IABA Turku 2022

Here’s to our wonderful IABA-team in Turku 🥂 we were so busy that we didn’t have a chance to be all in a same picture at the same time 😀 but here’s some memorable moments - and we will post many more here!
It has been a hectic Spring and long four years, but we made it 💛
(Missing from these pictures are Karoliina Sjö, Marta Girabal, Anne Heimo and Maria Niku but see for more pictures in the comments )

pictures: Kimi Kärki, Marta Girabal, Hanna Meretoja

Beautiful ending for such an inspiring and warm conference. Thank you so much for all of you for being here and giving such a wonderful input both academically and socially ❤️

Our fourth and last day included the enchanting and thought-provoking key note by professor Saidiya Hartman. With the title of ”The Graces of the Unsung” she discussed the challenges of writing the lives of the unknown and also read us a piece of her new text. What a perfect key note for a finale of such inspiring days!

Here professor Maarit Leskelä-Kärki introduces Hartman to the audience in Turku and online-participants around the world.

Did you miss our third day?

As the third day of the IABA began, the participants started to get used to the routines of the conference. Morning started with coffee and light chatting between the participants, before everybody went to see the presentations of their choice. After many inspiring presentations, we gathered in the Mauno Koivisto hall to hear the spectacular keynote from Kate Douglas about “Children and Biography: Reading life stories.” The keynote was followed by panel-discussion with many interesting topics.

After the keynote, participants gathered to the yard to have the traditional IABA group photo! Afterwards we a had great lunch in Machiavelli. All the energy was needed, because the lunch was followed by three intense hours of interesting presentations.
The last keynote of the day was presented by Sirpa Kähkönen. The powerful and intimate speech of the tragic life of her grandfather left many of the listeners in awe.

As for the last keynote of the day, we were glad to have writer Sirpa Kähkönen to present her speech “S/S Kuopio on the route to Saint Petersburg: Political polarization, radicalism, extremism as political inheritance.” Kähkönen gave an inspiring and intimate presentation about the life of her grandfather. Participants were drawn into the tale of children who were raised in violence and dreams of utopia, which were shattered in Stalin’s purges. Loved ones that were lost forever and great ideologies, that would break the lives of children.
Kähkönen made powerful point about the silence in writing. How can you write of those family members who were betrayed by the system they believed in? How to write of all the horrible things that have happened? Well, as Kähkönen presented, life writing can bring many lost things back. At least for the moment. Even the deepest silence can be broken.

After the speech, Kähkönen answered questions about her style of presentation, and as is the case in IABA, how it´s easy to perform when the audience is on your side and wants to listen to you. With this tone we are waiting for today’s Keynote.

Finally, our Thursday ended with a lovely dinner nearby the river. Participants relocated to restaurant Grädda to enjoy our conference dinner! As for the entertainment, we were treated with mesmerizing opera singing with piano backing. With bellies full, most of the participants found themselves in garden of Grädda admiring the banks of river Aura and a charming finnish evening

Memorable evening with the wonderful IABA-people 🥂❤️

Sirpa Kähkönen gives the Artistic key note of IABA22: ”Silence is the starting point for all Art.”

Did you miss our second day?
Wednesday kicked off with some coffee and promising sunshine, which luckily lasted the whole day. In the morning we also had the pleasure of listening to prof. Jens Brockmeier’s keynote lecture about narratives, memory and interpretation. The keynote was followed by an interesting panel-discussion.

After some lunch it was time for the day’s first presentations, which for instance revolved around digital stories and life-writing about maternal illness and grieving. Around three, it was time for some afternoon coffee and cake, which was followed by more thought-provoking presentations about life-writing and societal change among many other interesting themes.

Afterwards there was a get-together for young and new scholars. The event took place at Kirkkopuisto, a lovely terrace next to the Turku Cathedral by the river where people could make new friends and connections as well as have some interdisciplinary dialogue over some food and drinks. The weather was also on our side as it was warm and sunny.

In the evening there was also a screening of Lizzie Thynne’s documentary-film “Independent Miss Craigie” (2021). As the title suggests, the film depicts the life of the screenwriter and film director Jill Craigie (1911-1999), who was one of Britain’s first woman filmmakers. Thynne’s film consists of acted scenes and archival footage as well as parts of Craigie's own films. Afterwards we had the pleasure of having a Q&A with Thynne, who mentioned how she wanted to use Craigie’s own films to tell her story.

And lastly, the day ended with a fun evening at the famous Dynamo-nightclub, where people could enjoy some music and relax after another eventful and vigorous conference-day.

Third day and second key note by Kate Douglas on children reading biographies

Today, prof. Jens Brockmeier, one of our keynote speakers, gave a fascinating speech “Narrating a life: Backward, forward, or sideward?” His impressive approach to the interrelations of narrative, memory, and time led us to discuss how we rethink "interpretation" as autobiographical process. Along with the concept of narrative language, he pointed out the collective "we" memory and its founding of psychological process, "imagination".

After Brockmeier's inspiring keynote presentation, we discussed the possibility to understand the creative role of narrative and approach narrative, as psychological, linguistic, and cultural form and practice.

We look forward the next sessions and keynotes!

Did you miss our first day?

Yesterday, we started early in the morning, when the staff assembled and decorated the main area of the Publicum building, where all our sessions take place. After the first participants arrived and registered, we were warmly greeted with a coffee table. Many of the visitors also founded great interest for the bags given by the volunteers, which are part of a social project developed by the Turku City. The earliest of the visitors could also enjoy the light of the morning sun, while most of those who came later had to face the crisp summer rain of Finland.

The topics of the presentations varied within the premise of life writing. Even though the Life writing in historical research I− presentation was unfortunately cancelled, there were great many presentations to attend, and Workshops!

After the snack break, the guests were welcomed to IABA Turku 2022 with the opening programme, which culminated in the conference reception in the City Hall, where the participants were served light dinner, and we heard a speech by Debuty Mayor Piia Elo!

The rapid speed of the first day calmed in the evening, when we could enjoy altogether a lovely Finnish afternoon, leaving us some time to rest for today's activities!

Yesterday we had the first day of our conference with interesting sessions and the opening program of XII IABA 2022 which included the screening of Katja Gauriloff’s award-winning documentary-film Kaisa’s Enchanted Forest (2016, orig. Kuun metsän Kaisa).

After Maarit Leskelä-Kärki welcome words to our guests, Hanna Meretoja said few words about SELMA, main organizer of the Conference, and its mission of creating interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration about storytelling and cultural narratives. Meretoja highlighted the current political background of climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic and Putin’s attack in Ukraine and the importance of focusing on the kind of shared cultural narratives that help us orient ourselves and make sense of the world.

After the opening speeches, we watched Katja Gauriloff’s award-winning documentary-film Kaisa’s Enchanted Forest (2016, orig. Kuun metsän Kaisa). In her introduction Niina Oisalo discussed how Gauriloff’s film is composed of archived, 16mm film footage, animation as well as dramatized scenes. The magical and touching documentary tells the story of Gauriloff’s great grandmother Kaisa and her friendship to the Russian-Swiss writer Robert Crottet. Oisalo described the film as a dreamlike journey into the past and into Gauriloff's family history. The film is narrated by Crottet.

The beginning of the film depicts how Crottet, after falling ill of tuberculosis, started to have dreams that he believed belonged to the “tribe of Lapland” and these dreams led him to travel to the Northern region in 1938. In the village of Suenjell, he met Kaisa and was introduced to Skolt Sámi culture.

After the film, we had a panel-discussion by Niina Oisalo, Niina Siivikko and Lizzie Thynne, who discussed Crottet’s romantization and exoticization of the Skolts and of Kaisa. The topic of the film’s narrative voice also came up in the discussion, for instance how the film is narrated by Crottet and while he references Kaisa’s stories and life, Kaisa’s own voice is never heard in the film. The panelists also discussed the interesting difference between Crottet’s narration and what the film shows.

More interesting discussions and screenings are coming these days, we look forward to seeing you there!

Our first key note, professor Jens Brockmeier has just begun his talk