Yesterday night I spent at Voksenåsen, celebrating Johan Galtung’s 80th birthday (which actually is today, so birthday songs were performed at midnight). With Johan being one of PRIO’s founders – certainly a necessary, albeit not necessarily sufficient factor in making the institute a reality – it was nice to have the occasion to express appreciation for what he has meant to PRIO and to peace research.
I did so through a short speech, following up with Tor Jonsson’s poem ‘Vandringsmann’, which concludes as follows (sorry, I will not even attempt a translation): Eg gjekk frå faderhus og heimestrand, og vandra vegen til dei store tankars steppeland. It was good to be there, and nice to meet up with a number of PRIO alumni, many of whom I have worked with, others whom I met at last year’s Anniversary celebrations.
The highlight of the evening was the release party for a new CD and song book –‘Songs Without Borders’ – a compilation of 50 peace songs from around the world, out of which a smaller selection appears on the CD. Musician Solfrid Molland led the four person band. Mid-concert, the birthday kid himself entered the stage, performing two songs, in what he described as his debut. PRIO’s gift was a financial contribution to make the concert possible, indeed a suitable greeting. Reportedly, the record will soon be available on the web-page of Transcend Nordic.
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