Film and panel discussion on the dilemmas of mediating irregular migration
Wednesday 19th of November @ Tegleverket, Det Akademiske Kvarter, Bergen.
18-00 to 19.30 Letter to the King portrays five people on a day trip from a refugee camp to Oslo, a welcome change in an otherwise monotonous life. But we soon realize that each and every one of them has an agenda for their trip. All five will make decisive choices on this day, as they discover happiness, humiliation, love or fulfill a long-awaited revenge. The five stories are tied together by a letter, written by eighty-three year old Mirza. Mirza wants to hand over the letter to the King personally. (Film by Hisham Zaman)
19.30-21.00: Mediating irregular migration Researchers, artists, authors, journalists and others contribute to the proliferation of images of the lives, and deaths, of those who migrate without proper authorization from the state. While stereotypical accounts of victims/criminals proliferate in mainstream media – (counter) representations that challenge such stereotyping also exist. The speakers in this panel discussion have all participated in producing and/or analysing images of irregular migration. Taking as their point of departure the film “Letter to the King”, they will discuss the poetics and politics of mediating irregular migration. What (im)possibilities does such mediation offer for current border struggles?
Plenary panel discussion with: Mehmet Aktas (co-producer and scriptwriter, Letter to the king) Shahram Khosravi (Associate Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Stockholm). Synnøve N. Bendixsen (Post-doctoral fellow PROVIR and Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen)
Film and panel discussion is organized by IMER Bergen in cooperation with Studentersamfunnet i Bergen (http://samfunnet.sib.no/) and is part of the PROVIR-project’s closing conference.
Thursday November 20th @ Auditorium 4, Faculty of Law, University of Bergen
10.00 to 11.45 – Precarious inclusion: Provision of welfare to irregular migrants in Norway
The IMER Bergen-project Provision of welfare to irregular migrants (PROVIR) will present its research findings at this open event.
PROVIR combined legal and anthropological approaches to investigate the complex relationship between law, institutional practice, and irregular migrants’ lived experience. The research project aimed to cast light on living conditions and access to welfare of irregularized migrants.
You can find more information about the project at PROVIRs website: http://rokkan.uni.no/sites/provir/