The Threads of Fate: Burden/Skuld
ABOAGORA 2018 was held at the Sibelius Museum in Turku on August 22–24. The Symposium analysed different perspectives, utopian as well as dystopian, on the future and how the legacies of past generations lay claims on and model the possibilities of coming generations.
The presentations discussed ecological and economic concerns for a sustainable future, questions of human development, policy making, and normative ideological and religious frames of reference, as well as the power of science to create a better future. Aboagora 2018 completed the trilogy The Threads of Fate.
the Norn of Burden
Skuld means “need”, “ought to be”, or “shall be”. It refers to something that should occur or must happen in the future as a
consequence of past events, evoking the question of the “burden of the past” and its normative consequences for the future of humanity.
In the years 2016–2018 Aboagora built a thematic trilogy under the title The Threads of Fate. The title refers to Old Norse mythology and beings called Norns, who rule the destinies of both gods and humans. The three most important Norns were Urðr, Verðandi and Skuld. They have at times been interpreted as the past, the present and the future but, in fact, the layers of temporality are unavoidably entangled. The question of fate (Urðr), for instance, stretches from the past to the future, and the idea of burden (Skuld) refers both to our heritage and to something that we have to confront in the future.
Each Norn offers a perspective to the current state of the world, which is discussed during the agora, blurring the boundaries between arts and sciences. At the same time, this trilogy allowed a profound investigation of urgent issues, such as identity and ethnicity, human impact on the environment, and the future of the Earth.
Agora lectures from Aboagora 2018 are available on ABOAGORA’s YouTube channel:
Claes Andersson & Julia Korkman
Claes Andersson (psychiatrist, author, former MP and Minister) & Julia Korkman (psychologist and researcher)
The Burden of Memory
Kimi Kärki, Albion Butters & Pertti Grönholm
Kimi Kärki (University of Turku): Totalitarian Alternative Histories in Trump era Television Entertainment
Albion Butters (University of Turku): Shades of Whiteness: Appropriation of Religious Symbols by the Nordic Alt-Right
Pertti Grönholm (University of Turku): Laibach: Totalitarianism Disguised and Uncovered
Helena Ranta
Professor Emerita, forensic dentist