Talende billeder og objekter – et sammendrag

Papers præsenteret ved det 28. Nordiske Ikonografiske Symposium i Laulasmaa, Estland, 25.–28. august 2024

Abstract

Talking Images and Artefacts – a Summary
This article is an extensive, illustrated summary of the papers presented at the 28. Nordic Iconographic Symposium, August 25–28, 2025, in Laulasmaa, Estonia. The languages mainly spoken at the Nordic Iconographic Symposia are Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, but presentations and discussions in English are also welcome. This summary is written in Danish. The theme of the symposium was “Talking images and artefacts” (Talande bilder och föremål). The organizers’ main idea behind this theme was “to explore the potential for action in images by focusing on their ability to communicate with the viewer”. How do images achieve this, how do they “speak”? The participants were invited to explore the topic by for instance studying a specific group of images/artefacts, or presenting a theoretical discussion. Images can communicate in many ways, together with written words or texts, through gestures and body language etc. But is it at all possible to understand messages from the past, and what do they “tell” the present day viewer? Three of the 24 papers are published in this issue of ICO, one in Swedish and two in English: Herman Bengtsson’s “Eufori och melankoli – Om kroppsspråket och den ikonografiska traditionen” (Euphoria and Melancholy: Body Language and the Iconographic Tradition); “Talkative Head Reliquaries in the Nordic and Livonian Middle Ages” by Sofia Lahti and “Addressing the Unknown: the Funeral Bier as a Medium” by Saila Leskinen.