In 1960, the Musée Royal du Congo Belge in Belgium, published The Glossopteris Flora of the Belgian Congo. Co-authored by two palaeobotanists, Norwegian Ove Arbo Høeg and Indian Mahendra Nath Bose, the book is a comprehensive study of this prehistoric plant, commonly known as the tongue fern (glossa meaning tongue, pteris meaning fern). The plant which became extinct around 252 million years ago can be extracted as coal.
At the turn of the 20th century, as the development of steam-powered riverboats and freight trains made previously hard-to-access land extractable, experts and opportunists alike from the Nordic countries became involved in the coal-fed, navigational infrastructure of the Congo River.
Taking The Glossopteris Flora of the Belgian Congo as a historical and material point of departure, Ina Hagen’s A Combustible Grammar (2026) examines Norway's colonial past and present in light of the burning of fossil fuels and how humanity’s relentless drive for knowledge about the natural world, through geological exploration, scientific experimentation and technological advancement, has so often led to exploitation that leaves destruction and depletion in its wake.
Starting from the philosopher Michael Marder's concept of pyropolitics and that we are currently living in the pyrocene – the age of fire – the exhibition is oriented around a series of metaphorical images – among others an eternal flame, a sundial and a wax candle simultaneously burning at both ends.
The exhibition includes sculpture by Jessica Warboys.
Sound score by Morten Norbye Halvorsen.
A Combustible Grammar is Hagen’s first solo exhibition in Bergen. In addition to the show at Aldea, there will be a conversation at Bergen Kjøtt, as well as a live event/reading at Bergen School of Architecture.
