Conversations with Aliens of Extraordinary Ability is a community channel podcast. The episodes feature informative and speculative talks with a group of local and international critical voices around education, labour and practices of solidarity with immigration being the red thread running through them all. We seek to redefine and create processes to sustain radical livelihoods and artistic practices that emerge as a result of – but also in resistance to – the multiple crises triggered by the pandemic.

*This conversation includes the voices of artists and members of the VR working group Gabrielle Paré, Rodrigo Ghattas, Prerna Bishnoi, and Anthony Morton. They discuss the origins of the Verdensrommet network on the occasion of its first anniversary and shed some light on the work being realized in favor of non-EU artists working and living in Norway.

Credits: Intro, outro and transition sounds by Emilie Wright
Logo design by Martin Schor
Support by: Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond and Unge Kunstneres Samfund

Conversations with Aliens of Extraordinary Ability | Pilot Episode

In this episode of Conversations with Aliens of Extraordinary Ability, Rodrigo Ghattas is joined by Tatiana Lozano and Mehdi Torkaman to talk about their immigration experiences in Norway: from visa triumphs to temporary expulsions and all along the support and solidarity they received from friends and institutions.

Credits:
Intro, outro and transition sounds by Emilie Wright
Logo design: Viviana Cárdenas
Support by: Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond and Unge Kunstneres Samfund




[THE STORY]
This episode is the first in a 3-part series on Practices of Solidarity. Guest artists Mehdi Torkaman and Tatiana Lozano explore perspectives on organized solidarity actions and the complex issues at play when artists seek to permanently relocate to Norway. Mehdi and Tatiana, both have faced temporary expulsion by the immigration services in Norway, having to resettle in their countries of origin, Iran and Colombia.

The art communities in Oslo and Bergen organized demonstrations in solidarity with the artists; two years later, in 2020, they were both allowed to return to Norway. We listen to their experiences as immigrant artists, sharing their routes back into Norway and their own strategies of immigration persistence. As well, we discuss how effective demonstrations are as political tools for change and their importance as solidarity devices within the arts. How we, as artists, might prepare collectively for the uncertainty of migration in the future, especially since the pandemic has fast-forwarded right-wing populist immigration politics in Norway and the rest of Europe.

Practices of Solidarity w/ Tatiana Lozano & Mehdi Torkaman | ep. 1

Credits:
Intro, outro and transition sounds by Emilie Wright
Logo design: Viviana Cárdenas
Support by: Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond and Unge Kunstneres Samfund

Practices of Solidarity w/ No More Later | ep. 2

Verdensrommet is an artist-powered mutual support network by/for immigrant creative professionals based in Norway. We stand for fair immigration policies, better living and working conditions, and encourage new imaginations for the future of cultural work.

Verdensrommet | Mutual Support Network