Reflections on a mobile train conference from Helsinki to Rovaniemi

Abstract

This is an account of Laura Bissell and David Overend’s experience of attending a ‘mobile train conference’, which explored ideas around theatre and nomadism en route from the Finnish capital, Helsinki, to the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi. The account of the journey, which took place on 8 April 2014, reflects on the opportunities, affordances and limitations of mobilising knowledge exchange in this way. Drawing on Michel De Certeau’s brief discussion of train travel, the account explores the relationship between the conference and the moving landscape.