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Item: Den helige Torsten Nilsson

Öyvind Fahlström

1968

Book, 130 p., language : Swedish, publisher : Albert Bonniers Förlag, ISBN : N/A.
Materials: ink, paper

Collection: Collection M HKA, Antwerp (Inv. no. B 2028/519).

Literary synopsis

The Holy Torsten Nilsson intervenes in the contemporary political landscape of the 1960s. Names of real people - the Swedish Crown Prince Carl-Gustaf, the minister of education, Olof Palme, the sociologist and politician Alva Myrdal, the wife of the assumed assassin of J.F. Kennedy, Marina Oswald, the writers Olof Lagercrantz and Sven Lindqvist, the leader of the Swedish communist party, C.-H. Hermansson - are used throughout; the CIA and the FBI as well as the Chinese military are part of the story, which among other things deals with kidnapping, military industry, drugs, politics, and child geniuses.

Relation of the novel to the artist’s practice

Den helige Torsten Nilsson (The Holy Torsten Nilsson) existed originally as a radio play broadcasted on Sveriges Radio in February and March 1966, comprising four hours of air time. The form of the novel is based on the tradition of collage in visual art, concrete poetry and sound art. Much of the acoustic material used is culled from films and TV shows, often from genres such as science-fiction and horror.

-Jesper Olsson

Novel's website

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The M HKA is a museum for contemporary art, film and visual culture in its widest sense. It is an open place of encounter for art, artists and the public. The M HKA aspires to play a leading role in Flanders and to extend its international profile by building upon Antwerp's avant-garde tradition. The M HKA bridges the relationship between artistic questions and wider societal issues, between the international and the regional, artists and public, tradition and innovation, reflection and presentation. Central here is the museum's collection with its ongoing acquisitions, as well as related areas of management and research.

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