Thursday 26th February

10:00 Welcome and introduction, Marte Johnslien
10:30 “Vegetative Alchemy & The Artist as Living Vessel”, Chantal Powell
11:20 “Material Presence”, Petra Dahlström
12:00-13:00 Lunch break

13:00 “Pre-modern and Post-modern Correspondences”, Spike Bucklow
13:50 “Interference”, Agnes Guttormsgaard and Vebjørn Guttormsgaard Møllberg
14:30 Short break
14:40-15:45 Panel conversation and Q&A with presenters.
16:00-18:00 Launch of “Titanium Dioxide in Ceramic Glaze Compendium” and mini exhibition in the foyer, with the TiO2: Materiality of White Group.

Friday 27th February

09:30 Welcome, Marte Johnslien
09:40 “From the Cloud of Unknowing to the Tree of Knowledge: The path that knows is the path that blooms”, Aliya Say
10:30 “Cracking the Voynich Cipher», Siv Bugge Vatne
11:00 Coffee break
11:15 Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev in conversation with Sara Yazdani
12:15 Lunch
13:00 “Burning Days”, Jessica MacMillan
13:40 “The Alchemy of Titanium White”, Marte Johnslien
14:15-15:30 Panel conversation and Q&A with presenters.

Click to read more about the participants and presentations

Artists who work with colour, whether in ceramic glazes, dyed yarns or printing inks, draw on traditions rooted in a wide and interconnected web of knowledge. Through hands-on processes such as throwing clay, spinning fibres or forging metal, they explore natural principles of growth, gravity and transformation. By engaging closely with materials – organic, mineral or human-made – artists can reveal hidden properties and unexpected cultural bridges, sometimes leading to works that challenge dominant narratives and scientific norms.

Today, contemporary art and philosophy increasingly examine the boundaries of matter and the connections between human and non-human worlds. Correspondence aims to reveal sites where alchemical and esoteric thinking align with contemporary perspectives. Through presentations by a group of artists and scholars, it seeks to make visible how material-based art can resonate with relational views of physical reality. The symposium also aims to expand the notion of material-based art by exploring how artists build on existing symbols, language, natural forces and abstract imagery as ‘material’ elements within their practices.

Correspondence seeks to highlight how artists forge unexpected connections that can lead to new understandings of matter and our shared alchemical past.

The symposium is curated and organised by Marte Johnslien, associate professor of Ceramic Art and leader of the artistic research project ‘TiO2: The Materiality of White’. The symposium is part of the conclusion of the research project, which has been running since 2022.

Correspondence is created in conjunction with Agenda, with the support of the subject area Ceramics, department of Art and Craft, Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Norway.

The project is funded by the Norwegian Programme for Artistic Research, the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills.