WHO WAS HE? Arne Dørumsgaard 1921-2006

Arne Dørumsgaard with a family cat
(courtesy: Norsk lydinstitutt, I presume, not me! I took some other photos of him when visiting him in Oct 1991)

Rediscovery of this renaissance man, see new article in the newspaper Dag og Tid (in nynorsk, "new" Norwegian)

Litterært storverk utan like

Av ARVID BRYNE, 20.11.08

I 25 band har Arne Dørumsgaard (1921-2006) gjeve oss kremen av poesi frå Kina, Japan og Korea, samstundes med at han presenterer diktarane og deira tid.
http://www.dagogtid.no/nyhet.cfm?nyhetid=1419

LITERATURE AS WALLBREAKER Seminar on Dørumsgaard 18 nov 2008 Oslo

Seminar in Litteraturhuset (House of Literature) in Oslo on Arne Dørumsgaard's book series on the old poetry of East.
Program in Norwegian:

ØSTENS POESI OG LITTERATUR SOM MURBREKKER
Åpning ved førsteamanuensis Birgit Helene Jevnaker og redaktør Hans B. Butenschøn

Avduking av "Østens gamle poesi", et bokverk på 25 bind som presenterer kinesisk, japansk og koreansk litteratur og samfunn fra "de eldste tider" til det 20. århundre, gjendiktet og skrevet av Arne Dørumsgaard. Avduking ved Walid al-Kubaisi mfl.

Torbjørn Færøvik foredrag:
Litteraturen – vår døråpner til fremmede kulturer.

Hans B. Butenschøn:
Barbarer – vi?

Kinesisk tradisjonell sang og musikk:
Zeng Xiao Gang: Sang og bordharpe
Turid Alida Solberg: Sang

Arkivleder Jacqueline von Arb, Norsk lydinstitutt:
En musikkbegavelse – flere livsverk

Arne Dørumsgaard leser gjendiktninger (i opptak)

Professor Rune Svarverud:
Nærlesing av Dørumsgaards VÅR: Diktning, gjendiktning og oversettelse

Arrangør: Polyteknisk forening, Kultur og medier og Andresen og Butenschøn AS
http://www.litteraturhuset.no/program/2008/11/litteratursommurbrekker.html

HVEM VAR DØRUMSGAARD? Født i Fredrikstad 1921. Bodde siden 1968 i den nord-italienske landsbyen Marzio der han døde i mars 2006. Hans liv i noen korte og ufullstendige stikkord (sakser fra forlagets presentasjon):
"Dikter, gjendikter, komponist og sanger, levde det meste av sitt liv utenfor Norge, men arbeidet i alle år for norsk kultur. Han begynte sitt arbeid med gjendiktninger av Østens poesi i 1949. Da han på grunn av sviktende helse måtte legge ned pennen forelå tre omfattende bind om Kinas poesi fra 1368-1911 nesten ferdig. Han mottok kunstnergasje fra den norske stat på livstid."

ØSTENS GAMLE POESI NÅ FERDIG: Arne Dørumsgaard utførte et helt livsverk ved sin gjendiktning til norsk av Østens poesi. I 25 bind presenterer han de viktigste diktere i Kina, Japan og Korea gjennom alle tider og med fyldige presentasjoner av dikterne og deres bakgrunn. I Viften av perlemor 3A gjendiktes perler fra det tidlige Ming-dynastiet (år 1369-1500). Nå foreligger snart også bind 3B posthumt. (vi avventer trykkingen hos Valdres trykkeri).

DESIGN is discussed in New York Times by Janet Rae-Dupree (4 Oct 2008) noting that design is more than packaging and so forth. The article also introduces design thinking, an emergent hot topic in some design milieus, see
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/business/05unbox.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=%22Janet%20Rae

YET WHAT IS NEW IS NOT pointing to the wider meanings or discussions of design or design thinking per se. Rather, what appears new is the new crossover cultivating of design-oriented activities in "new" or "old" contexts. The article gives some insight into this by referring to the new educational approaches such as unfolding at Stanford's new socalled d.school.

D.SCHOOL. New York Times reports that the d.school is not set up as a new trad full education for designers. Instead, it is providing joint design courses for interested students across the school's existing fields but also a grad opportunity. The rise of new design-oriented courses for students coming from a variety of backgrounds may thus affect several breeds of students getting entirely new experiences, which is interesting from a design management and innovation perspective.

D+B COURSE MoD OSLO. Providing new learning initiatives as a joint collaborative offering for crossdisciplinary groups of students is something we are exploring also at Norwegian School of Management (BI) , e.g., through an ongoing collaboration on Management and marketing of Design (MoD) with the Design Faculty of Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHiO) offered from January 2007 onwards. The particular collaboration with design teachers and students at KHiO is involving its three design educations and at BI it involves two bachelor courses and two of its departments (Innovation and Economic Organization, and Intercultural Communication). It has been offered for at least around 100 design and business students each January since 2007. See http://modoslo.blogspot.com/2008_01_06_archive.html

Rediscovery of Innovation (again)...

Innovation Economics... is suggested" as a new field in relation to the current crisis and what is seen as a need to "reinvent" the US, see http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_38/b4100052741280.htm

COMMENTS. I posted this today:
(Birgit Jevnaker Nov 2, 2008 10:01 AM GMT)
This is interesting but appears to be perhaps somewhat lagged in its view? (e.g., focusing mainly on innovation and R&D). There exists an enlarged view, or in fact, many views, on innovation, e.g., as represented by "innovation studies" including business history, sociology, and evolutionary or heterodox economics as well as other social science views. Innovation-oriented economics is part of a broader domain with many fields of knowing, which is fruitful to understand and stimulate valuable innovation.

Dørumsgaard seminar 18 Nov Oslo

Our Polytechnic Society seminar on Dørumsgaard and his work on Eastern poetry is approaching...

Work meeting Yesterday to prepare for the details of this seminar.

Soon the whole book series by Dørumsgaard is completed (25 books in total).

Stay tuned...

Litteraturhuset 18 Nov 2008, 10.00- 13.00.

Twist theatre festival in Oslo opened yesterday

FULL HOUSE ON OPENING NIGHT. I entered "Riksteatret" Yesterday (31. Oct 2008) around 7.30 p.m. The lobby was crowded with young people (and some oldies like us) enjoying meeting each other on a Friday night as well as the opening wine and a key speech by Fabian Stang, the major of Oslo (relevant here to mention that he is son of Wenche Foss, an excellent actress in Norway). Standing in the back near to the ticket counter we could only hear a few of his words but I guess he underlined the value of this brand new theatre festival. It is indeed an interesting joint effort and creative collaboration among three theatres: Riksteatret, Nordic Black Theatre, and Det Åpne Teater.
http://www.twist08.no/home/
"SIZWE BANZI IS DEAD" GUEST PLAY. After the opening, most of us entered the stage room to experience "Sizwe Banzi is Dead," by Fugard, Kani and Ntshona.
The play is problematizing many things including the absurdities of power relations and ways of expressing this in work and societal relations between black and white people. Especially, it explores the shift of and playing with - even stealing - identity and manners when two poor guys in a township of South-Africa finds a dead man's passport... and plays with it in a hostile South-African city setting: "A black man stay out of trouble? Impossible! Our skin is trouble!"
With: Habib Dembélé, Pitcho Womba Konga

Regi/director: Peter Brook
Light design: Philippe Vialatte
Scenografi: Abdou Ouologeum

Production: C.I.C.T. / Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord

Translation to French: Marie-Hélène Estienne

BRIEF INTRO (in Norwegian): Handlingen foregår i en sørafrikansk township, bosetning, og er forfattet av en av landets mest kjente dramatikere, Athol Fugard, i samarbeid med de opprinnelige skuespillere. Urpremièren var i 1972. Men oppsetningen som nå besøker Norge, er fra 2006, og er satt opp av den engelske teaterlegenden Peter Brook og hans franske kompani Théâtre du Bouffes du Nord. - Kan føye til at noen husker kanskje oppsetningen i Bergen i 1972 med bl.a. Lothar Lindtner, også en teaterlegende!
Source: http://oslopuls.aftenposten.no/kunst_scene/article94807.ece

EVALUATION: 6 points! The two black actors were amazingly good and communicated excellently even when speaking French to a Norwegian audience. Among the best performances I have ever seen - with only two actors and sparse resources. Just a few cues: the two guys were excelling in using their body language, voice and facial expression and playing with gestures (smile!), movement, and sound... exploring the audience's sense of humour as well as empathy by being uniquely present on stage "with us"... but using only a very few stage furnishing tools (In Norwegian: en krakk og noen papp-plater, et par stativer som fungerte som dører og vegger, en sko som repr. en død mann).
PETER BROOK-DIRECTING. A background to understand their way of acting and using the few sparse tools creatively is knowing about the approaches and thinking of Peter Brook, one of UK's greatest theatre directors (recently awarded the Norwegian Ibsen prize). He is known, for example, for his 'empty space' approach, daring to take away anything that can hinder the actor becoming present and preparing hard for the performance as a unique event to be born, to put it very briefly.
TWIST LEADERS. Before the play started, on stage, three leaders of the three collaborating Oslo theatres were greeting us shoulder-to-shoulder, a very symbolic and warm welcoming to this new festival. Instructive handy program folders available as well. Congratulations!

Stabæk is celebrating

Finally Stabæk won "Serien" (the football liga of Norway) and celebrated at Nadderud stadion nearby where we live and where I also went to gymnasium.

This football club is famous for its leadership group - building up an interest for football and its club in a community not so very interested in football from the outset.

Things have changed, see pictures on e.g., this link

http://www.dagbladet.no/sport/2008/10/26/551637.html

Dansens Hus, Oslo

14 October 2008: Visited the new Dansens Hus (house of Dance) in the Vulcan area in Oslo, situated close to Akerselva (*the river dividing Oslo in East and West. Nowadays a growing area for creative industries firms, educational and cultural institutions.) 

Dansens Hus seemed very fit for its purpose, the main performance room could include around 350 people - seat rows were steeply built so that everyone should be able to see the dancers well.

The wooden stage floor appeared to be fit for its dancing purpose.

A long bar and nice mingling area is the first thing you meet when entering. It is also a flexible space for meetings and events. 

We were also guided outside and updated on the plans for this Vulcan area. A food hall is planned in the old brick building, and near to the Maridalsveien a new hotel (Scandic) as well as new theatre stage are going to be built.

The visit was arranged by our Culture and Media group of Polytechnic Society. 

100 years' celebration Geirr Tveitt

Jacob Culture Church in Oslo, 19 October 2008: We celebrated the birthday of the Norwegian composer who renamed himself Geirr Tveitt (from Nils Tveit). 

A great evening orchestrated by Lars Klevstrand and his companions together with also Gyri Tveitt, Geirr's daughter. 

Wonderful music ... incl. excerpts from Hardingatoner and well-known songs such as "Fløytelåt" and "Vi skal ikke sova bort sumarnatta." 

Some "refound" pieces were also performed. (to be filled in..)

I appreciated in particular the highly sensitive piano-playing by Håvard Gimse. 

Melancholia

2.10.2008 Den Norske Opera & Ballett
Interesting performance of an entirely new opera: Melancholia is narrating one day in the life of Lars Hertervig, the talented, enigmatic but highly suffering South-Norwegian painter while he was in Düsseldorf striving with his talents and doubts (Ich kann malen!) and fell in forbidden love with Helene Winckelmann, the step-dauhter in the patriarchal Winckelmann house where he rented a room.
It is performed during the Ultima festival in Snøhætta's white new opera in Oslo.
The libretto by Jon Fosse and music by Georg Friederich Haas, a young Austrian composer. I experienced excellent singers! and triggering new compounded music by Haas.

Geirr Tveitt's Balder's dreams rediscovered!

BALDUR LOST... OR NOT. The Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt's main work, Baldur's draumar, is literally rising from the ashes (see below). Until recently, this his major work, performed in the University of Oslo's Aula 24. Feb 1938 and also in 1939 in Paris, has been thought lost in fire ... either as stored in his fairytale house in Hardanger (Bjødnabrakane high over the Hardanger fjord) that tragically burnt down many years ago (July 1970) and/or, according to Tveitt himself, the original "Baldur" was also said to have become destroyed in London bombing during WW2 (the first score was sent to London for review to a complete stranger at Covent Garden who Tveitt had got recommended).
SEVERAL VERSIONS - THE ORIGINAL REDISCOVERED. Yet, it recently turned out that two written down versions both are luckily now refound partly accidentally and partly as research and documentary projects. This is triggering news and attracts some interest because 2008 is the very year Norway is celebrating 100 years since the birth of this composer (1908-1981). See a new biography below!
It is amazing to rediscover art works but perhaps not entirely unusual, as vestiges of creation do seem to turn up again, I wonder.
- Thus, in Oslo, Norway, literaly arising from the ashes... half-burnt note-pages were found some years ago, first identified by a music student. It could be recognized and then recreated as Baldur's dreams (in companion with an NRK radio recording from the original live performance and contributions by two composers, incl. the Russian Aleksej Rybnikov, more on this later perhaps!), i.e., significant parts of Tveitt's revised music score have been found in a box, consisting of vestiges of his works from the ashes of the Hardanger house. The box was luckily preserved via Bergen Museum and then moved to the Norway's National Museum archives and reexplored recently by the musician Håvard Gimse and the conductor Ole Kristian Ruud. Ruud and Stavanger Symphony Orchestra performed a recreated version of Baldur's Draumar in May 2002 in Grieghallen during the Bergen Music Festival, an event I happened to experience.
- In London, the complete 1938 original first score has also late 2007 surprisingly been refound in music archives at Covent Garden (it was sent by Geirr Tveitt to Mr. Bruce Ottley, Covent Garden in 1939).
NEW INTEREST. This, and other interesting stuff is outlined both in a recent film documentary by the team of Sondre Hallvardsson Bjørgum (son of the exceptional Hardanger fiddle player Hallvard Bjørgum, I guess) and shown this autumn on NRK, and also in Reidar Storaas' revised biography of Geirr Tveitt, Mellom triumf og tragedie (between triumph and tragedy), a biography, launched in the new Litteraturhuset in Oslo (24 Sept) as well as Bergen last week. I enjoyed the launch in Oslo with the well-prepared biographer and journalist Reidar Storaas (also a friend of Tveitt), the singer and guitar musician Lars Klevstrand (who has performed with Tveitt's music for decades), and the musicolog (I think) August Albertsen. In additon, the Think (electric car) industrial designer and Hardanger/Norheimsund-born Stig Olav Skeie had prepared and presented contributions to a discography.

AN ARTIST'S LIFE AND WORKS. I will read the new biography with interest (only scanned some parts now), but I appreciate that Storaas' new biography expands on Tveitt's artistic works as well as life, part of that is controversial stuff, I guess. However, the fascinating artist who renamed himself Geirr Tveitt (rather than Nils Tveit) still is an enigma, not least after the recent discoveries!
INGEBJØRG GRESVIG. Although many of Tveitt's artistic and life connections are mentioned including his first wife, herself a musician, I still miss more information about what he learned from and came to do in inspirational collaboration with his first wife, Ingebjørg Gresvig. She can be thought of as "the Andsnes" of those days, because she already was a creative, distinguished, and known master of the grand piano when they married. She had performed e.g. for many audiences and notable families in the cultural Berlin. Personally I really appreciate our lively encounters in the neighborhood of Kalfaret, Bergen when she was still alive. We could also fully observe directly how she memorized the notes and played excellently even at a high age. So my thoughts in this Geirr Tveitt year also go to her, thanks for your inspirations!

PETER OPSVIK and ULLA BRANTENBERG - awarded Anders Jahre Cultural Prize 2008

Anders Jahre Winners 2008.
Courtesy photos Anders Jahres Humanitære Stiftelse

Yesterday, designer Peter Opsvik and glass artist Ulla-Mari Brantenberg received the Anders Jahre's Cultural Prize 2008, together with two young talents (Daniel Rybakken and Tuva Gonsholt) the prize winners had helped selecting.
Because I have a special research interest for designing, I will focus on the designers here. According to the press releases, this is the first time a designer receives this prize.
In collaboration with the prize winner, a young designer was also awarded, as already introduced this was Daniel Rybakken, educated from Industrial Design, AHO.
Congratulations to both designers Peter and Daniel!
The award ceremony was in Oslo's Gamle Logen, and the prize winners surprised the audience with a shared music performance - Peter Opsvik is a good sax player but few had expected Ulla to sing. It was terrific my brother told! Sadly I was not there but Princess Astrid was! (see link below to Kongehuset).
See more on the prize and prize winners here http://www.ajhs.no/scripts/ingress/read.pl?id=080630103026-95
http://www.kongehuset.no/c26939/nyhet/vis.html?tid=73195

Sitting with movement and variation. Opsvik is known in design milieus and beyond because of his contribution to innovating sitting. Among his commonly used designed products is his Tripp Trapp chair that "grows with the child" (produced by STOKKE). He has also designed a variety of human-centered chairs or "sitting tools" for people to sit actively at home, in the studio or elsewhere (including the balans and rocking-wise chairs codeveloped with STOKKE, now sold through Varier). Further, Opsvik has codesigned a range of office chairs and conference chairs for work settings aiming for "movement and variation" (codeveloped with HÅG, cf. especially the HAG CREDO and the HAG Capisco, the latter is a sadle-like chair. I sit in it at BI everyday, it feels very good for my back and whole body!).

Rethinking sitting. There are of course many sources of inspiration behind what has crystallized as "Rethinking sitting" (Opsvik's new book, 2008). Among the fundamental inspirational sources was the Danish dr. Mandal working on improving school children's seating possibilities, and Opsvik met Mandal and other specialists involved in ergonomics at HAG.
Furthermore, another critical source is the Norwegian Balans design group with its alternative sitting conception and models brought forward by a group of four in the late 1970s, i.e. three designers one of them was Peter Opsvik, the others were Svein Gusrud, and Oddvin Rykken and all of them worked with Hans Christian Mengshoel, an inventor who has been attributed for the concept. At the time all of them interacted in various ways to create an alternative sitting, which eventually contributed to the new thinking. Also a few companies became involved in this co-creation and further development such as HAG, STOKKE and RYBO).
Although complex design work often involves team work, it is a significant contribution over a life-time by Opsvik (who also is a musician and designs artistic cupboards). No doubt, his efforts have been crossing disciplinary and other borders, and this was explicitly acknowledged by the prize committee headed by Åse Kleveland.
For more elaboration on Peter Opsvik, Stokke and HAG and their design collaborations, see research articles and reports on my website:
http://www.bi.no/Content/AcademicProfile____37600.aspx?ansattid=FGL98006&siteid=2D93E6C6062086B2C12571C4005B9DF5&type=pages

DØRUMSGAARDSEMINAR in Polytechnic Society - Autumn program available now!

Polytechnic Society/Culture and Media Group: This autumn we will remember and study Arne Dørumsgaard's works, e.g. how he interpreted poems from China, Japan and Korea.

Arne Dørumsgaard was a Norwegian multi-artist who lived in Marzio, Northern Italy. He was a singer, a composer, and collector. Thanks to his large collection of early recordings, we can now listen to all recordings made by Edward Grieg in Paris 1903. Eventually he gave his whole music collection to Stavanger city, thus contributing to the birth of Norwegian Institute of Recorded Sound (courtesy for the photo, imported from REC's website).

Polytechnic Society Autumn 2008. We've just finished hectic preparation of the autumn program in Polytechnic Society of Norway, and a number of interesting meetings and seminars are offered. For example, in our group Culture and Media, we are coarranging five meetings, including two particular book-related meetings (cf. authors Galtung and Dørumsgaard), one theatre performance backstage talk (Riksteatrets new Zivil play), and one visit to the new house for Dance in Oslo.

Here I like to point to the planned day seminar at Litteraturhuset in Oslo to present and discuss the works of Arne Dørumsgaard - especially his book series on Eastern poems and societies. More info on this artist's works and life in links below.

Note the respective dates for arrangements of the Culture and Media group:
- 29 Sept 18.30 Meeting with Galtung and others
- 14 Oct 18.00-20.00 Vulkan, Dansens Hus
- 6 Nov 18.30 Zivil performance with backstage talk, Riksteatret (discount for PF members)
- 18 Nov 10.00-15.00 Dørumsgaard-seminar

Most welcome, see details and terms in our folder (soon to be distributed) or on Polytechnic society's website:
See more in pdf file on http://www.polyteknisk.no/

For info on Dørumsgaard, see e.g.,

- in Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2006/jun/06/guardianobituaries

- info from REC: http://www.recordedsound.no/collections/arne_dorumsgaard.htm

- From A&B publishers, we learn about the 25 issues book series (in Norwegian):http://www.abforlag.no/

Economist Joseph Stiglitz: "The way we measure performance is often wrong."

Joseph E. Stiglitz, courtesy for photo and text excerpts to http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/jstiglitz/bio.cfm

Joseph E. Stiglitz visited Oslo today and talked about the social responsibilities when making investments: "You can do well by doing good."
Investments in responsible manners for private companies as well as public institutions "can be good for returns" as well as for society, was the overall message. This "doing-well-by-doing-good" may happen "especially when social responsibility anticipates broader social movements, or when social responsibility contributes to better corporate governance."
Stiglitz did not say anything entirely new. Yet as Nobel prize laurate in Economics his voice can be heard. In Oslo he was heartily welcomed by Kristin Halvorsen, Norway's current minister of finance. At 10 o'clock a Monday morning the meeting room was full and a lot of journalists were also eager to make interviews afterwards e.g. TV2 was interviewing him after his presentation.

In Oslo this morning. Stiglitz started his speech in the Departmental building by outlining how "efforts of theft" in fact can supersede efforts of doing good. Innovation can thus become negative in its consequences. He further elaborated how firms tend to oppose a lot of legislations, thus influencing what is actually "legal." Firm's behaviour may also become geared toward "how to cheat the government" or even using the same procedures to cheat multiple stakeholders. This happens in private sector investments, more often than one believes, he explained, which has led to the scandals of Enron and so forth. Stiglitz opposed the narrow moral of self-interest going back in economics to Adam Smith he said (though Smith may have been somewhat misinterpreted, I've heard from other sources, such as UiO prof Kalle Moene.)
Anyway, what is interesting is that Stiglitz firmly claimed that "the way we measure performance is wrong." He called for a broader view beyond monetary measurements, such as including what he called "social returns." He added that "the social returns may be more difficult to quantify" or measure. But with "longer time horizons" and the idea of (investing also for) social returns, this opens up for the possibility of firms that might be doing well by doing good. Stiglitz explained that this seems to be a paradox, because according to standard economics, if you constrain investment, you have a smaller set. One would thus expect to do worse...instead one may rather do well, which is a puzzle according to standard economics, he reflected. Stiglitz also called for more attention towards spillover effects or what in economics are called externalities (external effects; can be positive and negative).
Birgit

PS Stiglitz also got some questions regarding Milton Friedman's contribution, and he responded by distinguishing between M. Friedman the politician and the economist, adding that "most of his ideas (political ones) have been rejected" and through an example (Chile and Pinochet) he showed how they had led to debt and failures.
For EXTRA info on Stiglitz: see e.g. his official website (linked above), a few facts: Stiglitz was born in Gary, Indiana in 1943. A graduate of Amherst College, he received his PHD from MIT in 1967. He is now University Professor at Columbia University in New York and Chair of Columbia University's Committee on Global Thought. He is also the co-founder and Executive Director of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue at Columbia. In 2001, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics for his analyses of markets with asymmetric information. And he was a lead author of the 1995 Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Stiglitz was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers from 1993-95, during the Clinton administration, and served as CEA chairman from 1995-97. He then became Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President of the World Bank from 1997-2000. In 2008, he was appointed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to chair a Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Economic Progress, and he serves on numerous boards, including Amherst College's Board of Trustees and Resources for the Future.

It is worth noting...
- that Stiglitz helped create a new branch of economics, "The Economics of Information," exploring the consequences of information asymmetries and pioneering such pivotal concepts as adverse selection and moral hazard, which have now become standard tools not only of theorists, but of policy analysts.
According to his website, he has also made major contributions to macro-economics and monetary theory, to development economics and trade theory, to public and corporate finance, to the theories of industrial organization and rural organization, and to the theories of welfare economics and of income and wealth distribution. In the 1980s, he helped revive interest in the economics of R&D.

Oscarsborg Opera with eminent Tosca 23.8.2008

Magnificent Tosca at the old Oscarsborg in Oslo fjord Saturday 23 August 2008 - the weather Gods were pleased too!
In full-light Scandinavian evening sunshine, Norwegian broadcast orchestra KORK (Kringkastingsorkesteret) played Puccini's Tosca conducted by Terje Boye Hansen. Director was the eminent Stein Winge who had contributed both colour and drama to what he saw as a crime story.
In the three main roles we experienced the soprano Victoria Nava as Flora Tosca and the tenor Tor Inge Falch as the painter Cavaradossi, both performed and sang excellently. And the barytone Espen Fegran gestalted a really excellent and gruesome Scarpa!
I found the Oscarborg very suitable and attractive for outdoor opera performances, we experienced it in its best weather conditions Yesterday. With simple stage arrangements the Oscarsborg yard was actually transformed to a very enjoyable and moving music art experience (only restrooms for women could be improved, though...)
We also had a pleasant boat trip with Rigmor from Sandvika to Oscarsborg in full sunshine and in in the star-lighten night we sailed home from Oscarsborg.
Let me add: This fairly new annual summer opera event in convenient distance from Oslo should get public funding with its excellent casts and staging, it has shown that it deserves it!
Birgit

How was West-Eastern DIVAN orchestra co-created?

Curious about the originating of the West-Eastern DIVAN orchestra that we just heard in Oslo (20.8.2008, see blog entry 21 Aug), I visited the co-founder and conductor's own website, and want to share this story with you (courtesy to www.barenboim.com, accessed 24.8.2008, my excerpts and headlines):
-- A Chance Meeting:
"In the early 1990s, a chance meeting between Mr. Barenboim and the late Palestinian-born writer and Columbia University professor Edward Said in a London hotel lobby led to an intensive friendship that has had both political and musical repercussions. These two men, who should have been poles apart politically, discovered in that first meeting, which lasted for hours, that they had similar visions of Israeli/Palestinian possible future cooperation. They decided to continue their dialogue and to collaborate on musical events to further their shared vision of peaceful co-existence in the Middle East. This led to Mr. Barenboim's first concert on the West Bank, a piano recital at the Palestinian Birzeit University in February 1999, and to a workshop for young musicians from the Middle East that took place in Weimar, Germany, in August 1999."

-- Furthermore, we learn:
"The West-Eastern Divan Workshop took two years to organize and involved talented young musicians between the ages of 14 and 25 from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia and Israel. The idea was that they would come together to make music on neutral ground with the guidance of some of the world's best musicians. Weimar was chosen as the site for the workshop because of its rich cultural tradition of writers, poets, musicians and creative artists and because it was the 1999 European cultural capital. Mr. Barenboim wisely chose two concertmasters for the orchestra, an Israeli and a Lebanese. There were some tense moments among the young players at first but, coached by members of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony and the Staatskapelle Berlin, and following master classes with the cellist Yo-Yo Ma and nightly cultural discussions with Mr. Said and Mr. Barenboim, the young musicians worked and played in increasing harmony.
The West-Eastern Divan Workshop was held again in Weimar in the summer of 2000 and in Chicago in the summer of 2001. It has since found a permanent home in Seville, Spain, where it has been based since 2002."
-- On performances:
"Each summer, following their workshop, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra gives public concerts; to date they have performed in Europe and North and South America, including at the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh, Lucerne and Salzburg festivals. In 2004, they performed a historic concert in Ramallah, the Orchestra's first concert in an Arab country. In December 2006, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra went to the U.S.A., performing at Carnegie Hall and ending the tour with a farewell concert at the United Nations for outgoing Secretary-General Kofi Annan. In 2007, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra was invited to be in residence at the Salzburg Festival."
....and we may add, in 2008 they have among several places performed with great success in Scandinavia including Oslo.
Birgit, 24.8.2008
PS Interestingly, also the excellently improvising cellist Yo Yo Ma has immersed himself in crosscultural efforts, see the SILK ROAD PROJECT: www.silkroadproject.org
And Daniel Barenboim has accepted several citizenships including Palestinian, see his website (link in the headline of this blog entry). For more background on Barenboim from other sources, see e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Barenboim

40 years since invation in "Czecho"

The night between 20 and 21 August, Czechoslovakia (Československo) was invaded by other Warzawa pact countries. As outlined on UK Wikipedia: "In 1968, in response to a brief period of liberalization, five Eastern Bloc countries invaded Czechoslovakia."

My thoughts go to my sister-in-law dear Liba (Libuce) who was among the arrested that very August... for opposing this invation as a student leader and civilian.

The Maciavelli student society of University in Oslo,
with prof Bernt Hagtvedt and others, arranged a lunch meeting Yesterday, and ingress in Norwegian is:

"Natten til 21. august ble Tsjekkoslovakia invadert av Sovjetunionen med store styrker fra fem Warszawapaktland (16 sovjetiske, tre polske, to østtyske, to ungarske og en bulgarsk divisjon), uten at tsjekkoslovakene hadde mulighet til å sette seg til motverge. Invasjonen ble mottatt med forferdelse og fordømmelse i den vestlige verden.

Midt opp i det hele befant to journalister fra Dagbladet, Gudleiv Forr (bildet) og Arne Finborud. Sammen med den tsjekkiske forfatteren Michael Konupek kommer de til "Lunsj med Bernt", onsdag 20.august, klokken 12.15."

See more on http://foreninger.uio.no/dms/program/frokost-med-bernt/2008-2/2008-08-20-tsjekkoslovakia.html

"An independent music republic": West Eastern Divan Orchestra

Noa Chorin, Cellist for the West Eastern Divan Orchestra, photographed on the beach in Tel Aviv, Israel. Photograph: Antonio Olmos Courtesy also The Guardian, 13.6.2008.

The West Eastern Divan Orchestra performed in Oslo Yesterday 20 August 2008.
- We can play because we are a mixed group of people... We enhance each other! Said Daniel Barenboim, the conductor, to the audience after receiving recurrent applauding in the Oslo new opera (a white marble space with wooden interiors, designed by Snøhetta - a good place for such music and human events).
Co-founders of this orchestra, Daniel Barenboim (born in Buenos Aires 1942, Russian-Jewish parents) and Edward Said (Palestine-American author) took the name from a series of late poems by Goethe during his study of Arabic and Persian verse, Divan meaning 'the other', according to reporter Ed Vulliamy (see link below).
The orchestra when in Oslo played German music - from W. A. Mozart's concerts (Concert for three grand pianos, The "Lodron") and even R. Wagner (1 part of Valkürien), the latter with three excellent singers, Waltraud Meier, Simon O’Neill and John Tomlinson. - Though in the beginning I missed Rene Pape... who was originally scheduled (he was expected to rehearse also for Carlos: Pape is singing in this autumn's big opera event in Oslo, Verdi's Don Carlos, in late September (and he is also coming in early October). Yet, the singers who did perform Yesterday "sang each other up" as we say in Norwegian. It became very moving.
Nonetheless, even more interesting for me Yesterday was to listen to the vital interplays of the young musicians in this highly special orchestra encompassing musicians from Palestine and Israel to Egypt and other nations in the Middle East. "Each of these musicians are courages persons just to come here", explained the conductor vividly to us (the audience).

"They meet in Sevilla each summer" to rehearse, which fits this realworld story: Daniel Barenboim explicitly pointed to the old (but later destroyed) civic tradition in Andalucia - of allowing Jews, Arabs and other people to live and work in the same place(s) in Southern Spain (for more elaboration, see "Abraham's children", an essay by prof Trond Berg Eriksen, UiO, in Morgenbladet, 2007).

I guess it is also attractive for the young very good musicians to meet and work with Daniel Barenboim as well as other excellent music artists. Barenboim was recommended by the conductor legend Wilhelm Furtwängler already as an 11-year-old. Now Barenboim is recreating magic with the new generations of musicians from the Middle East and audiences worldwide.
Thanks for coming to Oslo!
Birgit

Ps let me add some extras,
- LINKS in English:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jul/13/classicalmusicandopera.israelandthepalestinians
and www.danielbarenboim.com.
- LINKS in Norwegian:
1. "an independent, musical republic..." (Courtesy to Press news of the Norwegian opera and ballet):
"- For meg er dette en suveren, uavhengig republikk. I vårt orkester spiller israelere, palestinere, andre arabere og kristne i full likeverdighet. Musikken er vår store sjanse. Ordene tilhører den argentinsk-israelske dirigenten Daniel Barenboim som i morgen leder sitt West-Eastern Divan Orchestra på Hovedscenen i Operaen. Orkesteret ble grunnlagt av Barenboim og den palestinske forfatteren, aktivisten og professoren Edward Saïd etter at de to møttes tilfeldig i London i begynnelsen av 1990-tallet. Med bakgrunn i hver sin side av den palestinsk-israelske konflikten, fant de fram til en felles visjon for kunstnerisk samarbeid på tvers av politiske og religiøse skillelinjer.
Siden 1999 har det anerkjente orkesteret fungert som en musikalsk og politisk brobygger, de har flere cd-innspillinger bak seg og har spilt i konserthus over hele verden. Etter at Edward Saïd døde i 2003, drives orkesteret videre av hans enke Mariam Saïd foruten Barenboim."

2. For a field research reportage, see this article (courtesy to Morgenbladet, Oslo):
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=8280192458170847866&postID=39684069094936102

3. For more on Intercultural dialogue, see a seminar 13 Sept 2007 in Oslo by UNESCO and Polytechnic Society: http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=8280192458170847866&postID=39684069094936102

Languages, School Books+Net, daring new combinations

Again there is a problem of managing to get books ready for school start up. Why can't texts be published on the internet in combination with books on paper? I know it can be done, cf. Zoom, a new project I just read about in a newspaper: http://www.aftenposten.no/kul_und/article2594648.ece

In Norway we have 2-3 languages but two are the official ones every pupil has to learn. It takes time to translate a whole book in "bookish" Norwegian into socalled New Norwegian. (New norwegian is actually the most original one constructed from various dialects and would enrich the books I guess).

Why can't we have a mix of language texts in the same book, that is, some written in the one and some written in the other of the two different Norwegian languages - and why not also pockets of Swedish and Danish texts as well to get familiar with other closely related Scandinavian languages in the same book? The newspaper Bergens Tidende does have a practice of mixing the same issue with articles in either of the two Norwegian languages, they have had it for years without any protest as far as I know. Since this newspaper is a regional one on the Western coast, the Oslo people have perhaps not noticed this good mixture?

Ellypropelly's world

Artist and dear friend Elly Prestegård is currently exhibiting in Oslo, Norske Grafikere, Tollbugt. 24. Opening was 9 August and I was there with other friends as well.

Congratulations Elly!

See more on Elly's world here: 

ttp://www.ellyp.com/

Zhang Yimou

Congratulations to Zhang Yimou, the cultural teams and thousands of contributors!

I enjoyed the magic opening ceremony 8.8.2008 from OL Beijing directed by Zhang Yimou.

He happens to be one of my favourite moviemakers for some years as well - since I saw Red Sorghum. - Earlier this year I also saw several other movies directed by him, e.g. more realistic ones such as The story of Qui Ju. Luckily I came over a dvd collection when in South China in November 2007, a great find!

Now back to OL 2008 in Beijng. The Olympic opening was spectacular, epic, and also had interesting ingredients that perhaps sharp observers noticed.

When can I see this opening again on NRK?

and when can I get the movie mentioned on DVD, I wonder?

Lorca

                                                F. G. Lorca (Photo: Courtesy to Wikipeda)

Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca was born 1898, and tonight - already 19 August in Norway - it is terrible to think about how he was brutally shot by National militsia in Granada 19 August 1936 (i.e. after Civil war broke out in Spain).  

Better to dwell on Lorca's creations that have inspired many - including Leonard Cohen. 

I have not read much of Lorca but I really enjoyed listening to a 1957 NRK theatre edition of Dona Rosita the spinster, or in Norwegian Frøken Rosita, a play that was broadcasted again this summer. I liked especially well the role play part when the women are comforting each other by playing the various flowers actually speaking to each other... 

Thanks NRK!

For more on this play, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do%C3%B1a_Rosita_la_soltera

The discovery of Norway's mountains

Poster: Courtesy to the National Museum, Oslo

I went to a fascinating exhibition at the National Museum (and its Nasjonalgalleriet) in Oslo on Sunday 24. Feb. The exhibition illuminates how a group of artists and scientists travelled together in the 1820s and inspired each other when "discovering" Norwegian mountain areas.

Interesting pictures by e.g. Finnish-Swedish officer Carpelan and Danish painter Flintoe. See link below.
Notice also a highly detailed and aesthetic map of South-Norway by Carpelan. On the map I found the farm where my mother was born, Haakanes at the Tinnsjøen. Interesting to look into the Cosmoramas as well!
http://www.nasjonalmuseet.no/index.php/content/view/full/5178

At the museum, I also met Bjørkvold, former music professor and enthusiast, and I asked him about the Moseid embroidery, if any solution for exhibiting this had emerged (see other publication on this blog). No news so far on this matter, was the response. Then we both wondered whether the new art museum to be built on Tullinløkka perhaps may give this piece of art a final home? The Four seasons art embroidery by Moseid really deserves to be seen!

Super Tuesday - on Aljazeera

Interestingly, we're watching the Super Tuesday American election of delegates (for nominating candidates for the next US presidency) on ... guess, Aljazeera! They seem to have a very good coverage with a range of clever correspondents alerted for reporting from the "important states." This show is going to continue from now (around midnight in Norway) and for the next 7 hours...

I wonder what this phenomenon means, in terms of our media habits and the channel's ability to attract a wider audience. Whether paradoxical or not, we find it interesting in our family to note that Aljazeera offers such a good coverage and close following of the US elections. Sadly, we have to go to bed now, work waits tomorrow of a less political-entertaining kind...

The Kautokeino Rebellion

Photo source: The Norwegian Film Institute

8. november 1852 is a dark day for Scandinavian Sami population. According to a new movie, the Kautokeino rebellion emerges from a long conflict between a ruthless merchant and the local Sami families in Kautokeino in northern Norway.

The real-life conflict included ingredients such as abuse of alcohol, unjust debts and forced slaughtering of reindeers as payment of the debts, as well as tensions in diverse Christian practices, and last but not least, unexpected, highly unfair prisoning of Sami spokespersons.

The conflict escalates when the sheriff's men is chasing a young mother Elen Skum, wife of one of the imprisoned Sami brothers. To avoid another prisoning of a family member, the clan resists the slauthering of her reindeers.

The Rebellion Tragedy

To survive as a clan herding their reindeers, the group of Sami families was so provoked that they afterwards went together to Kautokeino and entered into what became a bloody battle against the local merchant, the priest, and some of their allies such as the new sheriff. Most of these were killed and the merchant's shop was burnt down (see brief on the background below).

However, this tragedy also continued: Several of the Sami leaders were later assassinated or sentenced to prison for months or years through a highly unfair trial by the authorities in the North of Norway. See a preliminary description of the real-life story here with some literature sources: http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kautokeinooppr%C3%B8ret

Taboo...

According to the film director Nils Gaup, himself a descendent from one of the Sami rebels, this Kautokeino story has been a taboo locally and it is also a dark chapter of Norwegian history though a few books exist.

Anyway, in 2008 this is now again possible to see, talk about and learn from.

The movie

The new movie by Nils Gaup seems to stay close to what actually happened (perhaps even underplayed? rather than exaggerated). In brief, it documents the emergence of the conflict between the scrupelless merchant in Kautokeino and his staff's daily tempting of the local Sami men towards drinking thus moving them into a serious debt situation. We also learn how the merchant allies with a new local priest and try to enroll other authorities to expand his business and avoid competition to accumulate wealth for his family as quickly as possible. The drinking at the merchant's store leads to family hardships in the Sami community when the wifes and grandmas have to look after the herd on their own. Here the film also offers insight into the Sami's traditional way of living literally in the nature.

Storytelling

In the movie, Elen Skum goes to the merchant's shop to fetch her drinking husband, which brings us directly into the core conflict and some key actors.

Somewhat later, a turning point in the movie is when she, and her husband, meets Læstadius, a Swedish priest moving hearts by preaching for the good and against drinking. Afterwards, through a series of escalating events Elen and Sami family members and friends finally stand up for justice against the local priest and the merchant, as well as judges. See more on this movie here http://www.nfi.no/english/norwegianfilms/show.html?id=699

Note that the authorities are not only biased. For example, the local sheriff at the time (soon however replaced) is played with sympathy and nuance, which is trustworthy.

Overall, the escalating tragic story reminds us how suppression of the original population can unfold as well as how the law and justice can be put aside when two worlds collide and also business greed, faith or own reputation is at stake. GO AND SEE THIS MOVIE NOW. Released January 2008.

Say it, show it, web it Polytechnic society, Oslo

MONDAY POLYTECHNIC AFTERNOON 28 January, 17.00-19.00.
Klubben in Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantzgate 7 - a discussion club for Norway's Polytechnic Society - was packed with people, invited by the ICT group and the Culture and Media group of this Society.
On the agenda: a panel of new media highly experienced persons discussing trends and challenges for multimedia editorial offices when facing "one medium traditions."
Polytechnic Society's ICT group leader Espen Andersen (an assoc prof at BI Norwegian School of Management) first introduced the afternoon's topic - Si;D, Vis;D, Web;D - by pinpointing that we will "all be working in several media" and adding to the audience of journalists and other media interested people; "I think you will all become net journalists."
Espen then outlined some key differences of writing for net-based media and paper-based newspapers and journals, e.g. in terms of a daily writing in more frequent and modular ways etc.
He then delineated three trends in this transition towards more netbased practices and I'll try to summarize according to my own quick notes:
1. Putting together different ways, information becomes lego pieces.
2. Starting to link into the text, also f.ex. links to competitors if interesting for the reader (even to another local newspaper).
3. Using alternative interfaces, for example, the perception of a main entrance into a site will be challenged because most people now tend to use search engines thus entering into the site through a multitude of ways.
See more thoughts from Espen Andersen here: http://www.espen.com/
Later, when editing this... I see his introduction as well as the whole panel discussion are video-recorded and thus available via his blog. So I just mention who participated.
The panelists were the following:
Torry Pedersen, responsible editor, VG nett
Petter Merok, Microsoft's local technology director.
Eirik Newth, author and independent blogger
Eirik Solheim, media developer and project manager at NRK.
I just like to mention that Solheim organized his talk around three points; Quality, Social interaction ("Alt dette sosiale"), and "NRK before and now." Eirik pinpointed that "for the first time in history, people are sitting at home producing with better quality than we can in NRK." Furthermore, Eirik Solheim and also Erik Newth referred to the great potentiality of opening up NRK's archives.
See more on Eirik's activities and experiences from http://eirikso.com/
--------------------
Own reflection: By the way, I just bought a collection of DVD's "100 år med historie (hundred years with history) 1900-1999," a documentary edited by Gary Tarpinian based on archives material from both BBC and Pathe. I've explored one of the DVD's, 1940-1949, as a way to learn key events in history together with my 18 year old son. We both agreed it was useful ...but we also need to remember the material from the 2nd WW is coloured by one side, as my son said.)
Anyway, I really hope NRK will explore this potentiality of its rich archives without not necessarily merely "selling DVDs" but indeed consider opening up its archives at least to some extent for free.
Why? There seems to be a need for differentiating and recreating what a publicly organized and funded national broadcasting media house can and should offer. This may be a good opportunity to contributing to this nation's culture and learning processes.

Music with a needle - no room for this art in Oslo?

BRYLLUPSFESTEN: Utsnitt fra 'De fire årstider'.
Foto: Leonard B. Jansen, Setesdalsmuseet/NRK

NRK reported today, Thorvald Moseid's fantastic 62 m embroidery is not to be exhibited after all in Oslo's new opera in Bjørvika.

I do not know the full detailed background for the decision (e.g. whether the architects, opera directors or art committe members were ever offered the opportunity to "design in" this art work from the outset rather than considering it's spatial integration afterwards, etc. It seems to have been suggested by a recurrent initiative by Oslo University's former music science professor Bjørkvold leading to a recent consideration, which so far has not succeeded). Anyway, I hope it is possible to find another attractive room for it in Oslo soon.

Because Moseid's art work such as the Four Seasons really deserves to be exhibited in a good place to be seen by the public including international guests, see some background info provided by Bjørkvold here ... http://www.freidig.no/glimt2006.html

When it was first exhibited in 1977 people were queing up as to a rock concert, says Jon-Roar Bjørkvold. So it is a shame just to store away this unique piece of art. Rather, it deserves to be exhibited and experienced recurrently in an accessible place for the public. Being part of the crowd who enjoyed seeing it in 1977, I expect this decision heard on the news today will trigger serious efforts and a creative search by "whoever it may concern" as soon as possible: to ensure that this art work will become exhibited again on a regular basis and preserved.

Why, you may ask. To give a quick background Thorvald Moseid (1917-2000) was a magician with his embroidered works. Born in Setesdal, a valley in the south of Norway with cultural traditions back to medival times at least, he was inspired for example by old myths (e.g. Orfeus and Euridice) as well as Middle ages embroidery techniques. However, he was able to recreat the myths and themes and transform them into something highly special.

The Four Seasons has a moving gestalting of man's lifeworlds throughout the year conveyed through the colorful embroidery (a project that took 16 years of the artist's lifetime). Perhaps one may say that Moseid conveyed a celebration of not only myths but life itself through his colourful threads.

The Four Season work is currently owned by some of Norway's publishing houses Aschehoug and Gyldendal (and it was for some years exhibited in Norwegian University Academy Press's previous HQ building). It is not however the first time a unique cultural gift or large works of art strive to find a public room in Oslo... I wonder who will pick up the challenge and resque this "music with the needle" (Bjørkvold's term) for the public good and future generations...

New MoD learning project 2008

From last year's MoD 07/photo B.Jevnaker
Conversation in shared space seems to be an important ingredient

MoD 2008
This is a joint learning project for both business and design students organized by a small team at BI Norwegian school and the Design faculty of KHiO. The project started for the very first time in early January 2007, although building on various previous initiatives (from Scandinavia, Island as well as the US, Europe and probably also seeds from elsewhere).

A 2nd MoD project, MoD 2008, between BI + KHiO hast just started, from 7 January and runs in 3 intensive weeks, with some introductory lecturing offered earlier (a couple of days before Xmas). It was also run in three weeks January last year. The basic structure and organized flow is principally the same (although you can never step down into the "same" river twice, as Heraclit proposed).
This time we have the advantage of building on last year's good experiences incl. reflections on what are potential important learning ingredients
- (e.g., preparation in a team with dedicated faculty and offering and following a rich program with high quality lectures incl practice-based guest lecturing, briefings on the task and overall learning process, time for group processes, clear milestones for presentations, room for dialogue, Q&A/supervision, flexibility as to kinds of ideas/settings for students' concept proposals, etc. May come back to this later on).

We're now at the end of the first week with intensified lecturing and team work; we offer students a daily program incl. time for group work (that's essential). Impressions so far are as interesting as last year! See http://modoslo.blogspot.com/
A new ingredient this year is thus the modoslo blog as a digital site to communicate our MoD activity, the blog was initiated and created on Blogger Sunday 06/01.08 by me, just-in-time before the start-up. The faculty team have found this useful (such a blog is of course not excellently organized but a fresh experiment (and we've experienced e.g. triggering group presentations but also limitations such as difficult to post or link lecture presentations not posted elsewhere).
For people who know Dori (dean of Design faculty at KHiO), they will perhaps know that he also has his own blog - where he post photos and reflections also from this collaborative project with BI, see http://www.dorigislason.com

One of the advantages of blogs is that they can be open and we've invited in all student groups and also guest lecturers as contributing authors to the MoD blog.
An experience last year was that we did not have such a shared digital communication space to provide messages and project related postings.
As KHiO, BI also has an extra net solution for its students, BI has a Blackboard facility (only for students enrolled in BI courses, thus not open for KHiO students. The same goes for KHiO's system, you need to sign in. ...That's one of the reasons why I got the idea of a MoD blog as a communicative space in addition to the partly "closed" extranets). It shall be interesting to see how it can become useful and what are the potentials and limitations of this extra effort.
Birgit

Simone Beauvoir 9 January 1908, still relevant 2008

Today it is 100 years since Simone de B. was born, we need to recap some key facts found on the internet:

- Born and educated in Paris, Simone de Beauvoir was among the first women permitted to complete a program of study at the École Normale Supérieure.

- She contributed significantly to the development and expression of existentialist philosophy.

- In Le Deuxième Sexe (The Second Sex) (1949), de Beauvoir traced the development of male oppression through historical, literary, and mythical sources, attributing its contemporary effects on women to a systematic objectification of the male as a positive norm. This consequently identifies the female as Other, which commonly leads to a loss of social and personal identity, the variety of alienation unique to the experience of women.
http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/beav.htm

In Norway, she was remembered on NRK as well as newsapepers, see the former e.g. http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/bakgrunn/portretter/1075762.html