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Centre for Women's and Gender Research
Book launch

Ovartaci - The Signature of Madness

In cooperation with Kunsthall 3,14 and the Research Group for Radical Philosophy and Literature (RFL) at UiB, the Centre for Women's and Gender Research (SKOK) hosts a launch of Brian Benjamin Hansen's book «Ovartaci».

An piece of art by Ovartaci with event information superimposed
The image shows Ovartaci's painting Frk. Lo.
Photo:
Kunsthall 3,14

Main content

At the launch, you'll hear Brian Benjamin Hansen in conversation with SKOK's Head of Centre, Kari Jegerstedt.

Ovartaci (1894-1985) is today seen as a spectacular and unique Danish outsider artist. There has been an increasing interest in their art the last couple of years; culminating in its participation in the main exhibit of this year's Biennale Arte in Venice.

Ovartaci was a psychiatric patient for 56 years of their life and constantly alternated between the world of the institution and their own independent world, filled with demons and exalted women. At a point in their life, Ovartaci made the change from industrial painter to artist and from man to woman. Ovartaci's life and work therefore radically questions our concepts about art, psychosis, identity and gender.

About the participants

Brian Benjamin Hansen, PhD, is postdoctor at Aarhus University in Denmark and Museum Ovartaci, as well as a lecturer at VIA University College. In addition, he is a member of the think tank Center for Vild Analyse. His latest publications are Handl (2017), Eksempelvis (2021) and Ovartaci: The Signature of Madness (2022).

Kari Jegerstedt is Head of the Centre for Women's and Gender Research (SKOK). Her background is from literary studies and gender theory. Kari is particularly interested in psychoanalysis, postmodern fiction, postcolonialism, queer theory and South African literature. Jegerstedt was editor for Tidsskrift for kjønnsforskning (the Norwegian journal for Gender Research) from 2011 to 2014. 

About the organizers

Kunsthall 3,14 in Bergen is a non-profit international contemporary art institution with an emphasis on contemporary art beyond the Western discourse.

Research Group for Radical Philosophy and Literature (RFL) at UiB is a venue for scholars and graduate students with an interest in the critical potential of literature and philosophy.

Centre for Women's and Gender Research SKOK) is a multidisciplinary research center that aims to strengthen the critical diversity, sexuality and gender research at the University of Bergen.