Nitja Centre for Contemporary Art (Lillestrøm)
October 8–11 2026

What are the conditions under which things are kept, circulated, or withheld? How are artists working within or against existing collections shaped by colonial, economic, and institutional hierarchies? How can we understand collections as sites shaped by histories of power, extraction, and translation? And what does it mean to shift our attention from collection to connection—from objects held within collections to the relations that may be maintained, disrupted, or transformed across the Global North and South?

Over four days, a group of invited artists and thinkers will explore such questions through conversations, performances, and hands-on encounters with archival material. Rather than treating collections as stable entities, we will approach them as fluid and contested formations. We will consider how a range of objects, including African headrests and manuscripts, Sámi drums, and a Palestinian thobe, are transformed as they move through artistic practices, gaining and losing meaning along the way.

The programme is free and open to all, and you are welcome to attend all or part of each day. Please register for each day you plan to attend, so we know how many to expect and can prepare food.

PROGRAMME

Except for the handling session and workshop on Sunday, which are held in Norwegian, all sessions are held in English.

THURSDAY 8 OCTOBER — TRAVELLING OBJECTS

14.00–14.30 Opening remarks by Ellef Prestsæter, Robel Temesgen and Kathrine Wilson
14.30–15.30 Salad Hilowle: The Headrest – Sampling an Archival Object
Break
15.45–16.45 Salad Hilowle and Robel Temesgen in conversation, moderated by Ellef Prestsæter
Break
17.00–18.00 My African Aesthetic with Rafiki: Negotiating the Archive (live podcast)
18.00–20.00 Shared meal, open to all

FRIDAY 9 OCTOBER — TRAVELLING BODIES

14.00–14.15 Opening remarks by Ellef Prestsæter, Robel Temesgen and Kathrine Wilson
14.15–15.30 Luanda Carneiro Jacoel: Kalunga Unspoken – Living Archives in Dialogue with a Legacy in Motion
Break
15.45–16.45 Jeannette Ehlers: From Invisibility to Manifestation – What does it mean to Collect and Connect?
Break
17.00–18.00 Luanda Carneiro Jacoel and Jeannette Ehlers in conversation, moderated by Louisa Layne
18.00–20.00 Shared meal, open to all

SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER — CONSTRUCTING OBJECTS

10.30–11.45 Breakfast, all welcome
12.00–12.15 Opening remarks by Ellef Prestsæter, Robel Temesgen and Kathrine Wilson
12.15–13.15 Joar Nango: How to Fmake a Sámi Drum
Break
13.30–14.30 Robel Temesgen: Book of Enoch – Making Shelves for Handwritten Books
Break
14.45–15.45 Joar Nango and Robel Temesgen in conversation, moderated by Ellef Prestsæter
15.45–17.00 Light refreshments and conversation

SUNDAY 11 OCTOBER — TATREEZ & TE

13.00–13.15 Opening remarks by Ellef Prestsæter, Robel Temesgen and Kathrine Wilson
13.15–14.15 The Palestinian Thobe – a handling session hosted by the Guttormsgaard Archive and Tatreez & Te
Break
14.30–16.30 Tatreez & Te, workshop with Samiha Nejmi, Leila Restan and Kristin Sunde. Tea and light refreshments will be served.

From Collection to Connection forms part of a long-term collaboration between Nitja Centre for Contemporary Art and the Guttormsgaard Archive and is developed together with Robel Temesgen.