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Conference on Life Stories

The CREATE Conference in 2023 was about life stories.

We love a good story, but there is hardly any narrative more important to us than the one about our own lives. Our entire identity rests on the story we carry with us. Life stories are, in other words, vital. At the CREATE Conference 2023, we explore life stories and seek to understand how we, as individuals, shape our personal stories through experiences and memories.

In addition to the academic perspective, this time the conference will also feature a workshop where you will reflect on your own life story. Moreover, you will have the opportunity to meet a range of artists who have provided us with stories that influence and perhaps even alter our own perception of the lives we lead.

As the conference has outgrown its usual framework, this time we invite you to the beautiful Guldsal in the heart of Svendborg. We look forward to seeing you.

From the VR experience 'Nothing Happens' by Uri & Michelle Kranot
From the VR experience 'Nothing Happens' by Uri & Michelle Kranot

Programme

8:30-9:00 Breakfast with the opportunity to refuel before the day starts

9:00-9:10 Welcome by festival director Asbjørn Rune Bourgeat

9:15-10:00 Rikke Amalie Agergaard Jensen

10:10-10:55 Signe Parkins workshop part 1

11:05-11:50 Uri and Michelle Kranot

12:00-12:45 Break and lunch

12:45-13:30 Jonas Poher Rasmussen

13:40-14:10 Signe Parkins workshop part 2

14:10-14:30 Break with the opportunity to stretch your legs

14:30-14:50 Coffee and cake served

14:50-15:50 Hanne-Vibeke Holst & Jesper Wung-Sung

15:50-16:00 Thank you for today

From the film 'Hollow Land' by Uri & Michelle Kranot
From the film 'Hollow Land' by Uri & Michelle Kranot

Speakers

RIKKE AMALIE AGERGAARD JENSEN – Cand.psych., Ph.d.
Researcher and Assistant Professor at the Center for Involvement of Relatives in Vejle and the Department for Regional Health Research at the University of Southern Denmark, specializing in narrative identity, family narratives, and mental illness.

We mirror ourselves in other people's stories. Narrative identity takes the form of a story with scenes, characters, plot, and theme. The raw material for the story is found in autobiographical memory, which holds all the information we humans remember about ourselves. But the narrative is also created and recreated in encounters with other people's stories. Here, the listener reflects on themselves and hears about the life that awaits them or others. One becomes a witness to what is good and evil, important or irrelevant.

From the book 'Blomsten der elsker mig' illustrated by Signe Parkins, who is responsible for this year's workshop
From the book 'Blomsten der elsker mig' illustrated by Signe Parkins, who is responsible for this year's workshop

JONAS POHER RASMUSSEN – Director and filmmaker
Made his debut with 'Something About Halfdan' - a portrait film about his grandfather, author Halfdan Rasmussen. His latest work is the award-winning and Oscar-nominated animated documentary 'FLEE'.

We get a unique insight into the making of FLEE. From Jonas Poher Rasmussen's first meeting with Amin in the mid-90s to how their friendship developed and the idea for the film emerged. Jonas Poher Rasmussen shows development material and clips from the film, invites dialogue and questions, and talks about the process of translating a very personal testimony into a compelling cinematic narrative, and how animation helped to set the story free.

SIGNE PARKINS – Artist, illustrator, and comic book creator
Graduated from Colchester Institute of Fine Art, England, and Design School Kolding, MA in illustration. Has won, among others, the Ministry of Culture's Illustrator Prize for 'Blomsten der elsker mig' (The Flower Who Loves Me).

In the two workshops, we will use drawing and writing exercises to evoke memories and transform them into images. We will attempt to provoke our memory to remember new things by drawing based on random words and cutouts that do not immediately connect to our own life narrative.

URI & MICHELLE KRANOT – Artists, filmmakers, and directors at ANIDOX
Creators of innovative works, including winning the Grand Jury Prize for Best VR Immersive Work at the 77th Venice International Film Festival and Best Immersive XR at the 74th Cannes Film Festival.

Learn about the work of creating VR experiences that experiment with narratives and push the boundaries between art and reality. The presentation will be conducted in English.

Conversation between HANNE-VIBEKE HOLST and JESPER WUNG-SUNG on writing exofiction inspired by visual arts

HANNE-VIBEKE HOLST – Author
Trained journalist and author of numerous acclaimed novels, most recently the current book 'Kriger uden maske' (Warrior Without a Mask). Also, the winner of the Golden Laurel and Knight of the Order of Dannebrog.

JESPER WUNG-SUNG – Author
Author of numerous award-winning children's and young adult books as well as novels, with his latest being 'Kvinde set fra ryggen' (Woman Seen from Behind). Also, the winner of the Golden Laurel and member of the Danish Academy.

How do language, characters, and life narratives emerge from paintings and sculptures? That is the question we ask Hanne-Vibeke Holst and Jesper Wung-Sung, both of whom have created literary works based on visual arts. In the conversation, the two authors discuss how they approached the task of transitioning from the visual to the literary life narrative.

Still from the movie 'FLEE' by Jonas Poher Rasmussen
Still from the movie 'FLEE' by Jonas Poher Rasmussen