Queering Nordic Borders: NNAQH seminar in Bergen 2024

Queering Nordic Borders – the second conference of NNAQH addresses the arbitrary nature of borders within the Nordic and Baltic region, and the consequences for marginalized people, e.g. queer people and indigenous people. The Sámi people have been particularly repressed by colonial practices, and by borders drawn with little consideration of the real lives of people living in the Middle and Northern parts of the Nordic Region.

At the conference we discuss how queer archives and historians can question the Nordic colonial past. How have assimilation policies shaped queer indigenous lives? And how do we preserve, disseminate and research queer histories? The preservation, dissemination and research of Sámi queer history in particular, will be the topic of one of the sessions. Other questions discussed include how queer history and queer archival practices can “queer” and transgress national borders within the region.

VENUE:Nygårdsgaten 5 (NG5), which is the building of the administration of the University of Bergen.  Nygårdsgaten 5 | UiB Tjenesteutvikling | UiB

The pre-conference dinner will be at Skeivt arkiv (The Norwegian Queer Archive) at the Faculty of Humanities Building (HF-bygget), Sydnesplassen 7.

Registration for the conference will open February 15,  2024 and close  April 1, but if you want to apply for travel grants, please read the following information as soon as possible.

Nnaqh has a small budget for reimbursing the travel expenses and accommodation of participants from the Nordic and Baltic countries. Since we can only support 5-6 participants or organizations, we encourage all participants whose trip can not be covered by their workplace or organization to apply for funding through Nordic and local/national funds.

NB! Nnaqh cannot reimburse state financed organizations or participants from such institutions. We will prioritize reimbursement of participants from NGOs or alike with small or no funding. When Nnaqh allocates reimbursement, intersectional perspectives and geographical distribution will be considered.

Reimbursements by NNAQH

If you are interested in getting your trip reimbursed please send us a motivation letter including a budget for travel costs and accommodation by March 1, 2024 the latest, to the following address nnaqh@qrab.se and enter “Reimbursement” in the subject line. The decisions will be made on March 6 and communicated shortly after. We can cover the travel expenses of 5-6 participants or organizations up to the amount of 500 euro each.

Please write a short motivation (500 words) on why you would like to participate in the conference in Bergen. Describe how the participation in the Nordic network for queer history activities and archives might benefit queer history activism and archives in your region. Explain in short how you plan to use the experiences from and the knowledge gained at the conference. Include a short description of your previous experience of archive or cultural heritage work, and/or of queer or LGBT+ archive activities; and/or of queer or LGBT+ history activities in general. Do also include your current connections to queer or

LGBT+ organizations or activism or to archives or cultural heritage institutions.

Other travel grants

The mobility funding of Nordic Culture Point is available for professional artists’ or cultural practitioners’ travel and/or stay within the Nordic and/or Baltic countries, that is to say: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and Åland. The following application period for the mobility funding of Nordic Culture Point is 2.1-31.1.2024. Here is more information about the mobility funding: https://www.nordiskkulturkontakt.org/en/mobility-funding/

NB! If you decide to apply for travel grants from the Nordic Culture Point you need an invitation letter from the organizers. Please contact Runar Jordåen Runar.Jordaen@uib.no before January 20, 2024 if you wish an invitation letter.

NB! Check also out the different options for travel grants in the country you are based in. Remember that the handling time of applications for travel grants normally is at least 4-6 weeks, more often several months, so apply already in the beginning of the year 2024.