Knutepunkt

The annual Knutepunkt conference, first held in 1997, has been a vital institution in establishing a Nordic role-playing identity, and in establishing the concept of "Nordic larp" as a unique approach. Though the conference started out strictly as a Live action role-playing (larp for short) event, it has since embraced role-playing games in a more general fashion. Today the conference still has an emphasis on larp, but programs devoted to traditional tabletop role-playing as well as newer arrivals such as freeform are common.

A live action role-playing avant-garde movement, which pursues radical experimentation and the recognition of role-playing as a form of art, has been connected to the Knutepunkt conferences. The scope of the Knutepunkt conference has expanded rather rapidly over the last few years with participants showing up from numerous non-Scandinavian countries. Since about 2003 Knutepunkt has seen participants from USA, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Estonia, Belarus, Belgium, the Netherlands, Israel, Czech Republic, United Kingdom and Austria, among others.

The next Knutepunkt - Solmukohta 2012 - will be held in Finland.

Etymology

Knutepunkt is Norwegian for "meeting point", and locally the term is translated into Swedish Knutpunkt, Danish Knudepunkt and Finnish Solmukohta. The name of the convention varies with the organizing country.

History

• Knutepunkt 1997 Oslo, Norway
• Knutpunkt 1998 Stockholm, Sweden
• Knudepunkt 1999 Copenhagen, Denmark
• Solmukohta 2000 Helsinki, Finland
• Knutepunkt 2001 Oslo, Norway
• Knutpunkt 2002 Stockholm, Sweden
• Knudepunkt 2003 Copenhagen, Denmark (Feb. 2003) (Official site was http://www.nordiclarp.org/knudepunkt/ which was simply a redirect to http://www.liveforum.dk/knudepunkt/)
• Solmukohta 2004 Espoo, Finland (Feb. 2004)
• Knutepunkt 2005 Oslo, Norway (Feb. 2005)
• Knutpunkt 2006 Barnens Ö (Children's Island), Sweden (Apr. 2006)
• Knudepunkt 2007. Helsinge, Denmark. (Feb. 2007)
• Solmukohta 2008 Nurmijärvi, Finland (Apr. 2008)
• Knutepunkt 2009 Oslo, Norway (Apr. 2009)
• Knutpunkt 2010 Katrineholm, Sweden (Apr. 2010)
• Knudepunkt 2011. Helsinge, Denmark. (Feb. 2011)

Publications

Since 2001 the Knutepunkt conferences have been accompanied by books on larp theory, with the exception of the 2002 conference in Stockholm.

• Anette Alfsvåg, Ingrid Storrø, Erlend Eidsem Hansen (eds.): The Book. Knudepunkt 2001. no ISBN
• Morten Gade, Line Thorup & Mikkel Sander (eds.): As Larp Grows Up. Knudepunkt 2003. ISBN 87-989377-0-7. http://www.laivforum.dk/kp03_book/
• Markus Montola & Jaakko Stenros (eds.): Beyond Role and Play. Solmukohta 2004. ISBN 952-91-6842-X. http://www.ropecon.fi/brap/
• Petter Bøckman & Ragnhild Hutchison (eds.): Dissecting Larp. Knutepunkt 2005. ISBN 82-997102-0-0 (print) ISBN 82-997102-1-9 (online) http://knutepunkt.laiv.org/kp05/
• Thorbiörn Fritzon & Tobias Wrigstad (eds.) : Role, Play, Art. Knutpunkt 2006. ISBN 91-631-8853-8 . http://jeepen.org/kpbook/
• Jesper Donnis, Morten Gade & Line Thorup (eds.): Lifelike. Knudepunkt 2007. ISBN 978-87-989377-1-5. http://www.liveforum.dk/kp07book/
• Jaakko Stenros & Markus Montola (eds.): Playground Worlds. Solmukohta 2008. ISBN 978-952-92-3579-7 (print) ISBN 978-952-92-3580-3 (pdf) http://www.ropecon.fi/pw/
• Matthijs Holter, Eirik Fatland & Even Tømte (eds.): Larp, the Universe and Everything. Knutepunkt 2009. ISBN 978-82-997102-2-0 http://knutepunkt.laiv.org/2009/book/
• Larsson, Elge (ed.): Playing Reality. Knutpunkt 2010 | Interacting Arts. ISBN 978-91-977140-1-3 (print) ISBN 978-91-977140-2-0 (pdf) http://interactingarts.org/pdf/Playing%20Reality%20(2010).pdf
• Thomas Duus Henriksen, Christian Bierlich, Kasper Friis Hansen & Valdemar Kølle (eds.): Think Larp - Academic Writings from KP2011. Published by Rollespilsakademiet in conjunction with the Knudepunkt 2011 conference. ISBN 978-87-92507-04-4 http://rollespilsakademiet.dk/kpbooks/think_larp_web.pdf
• Claus Raasted (ed.): Talk Larp - Provocative Writings from KP2011. Published by Rollespilsakademiet in conjunction with the Knudepunkt 2011 conference. ISBN 978-87-92507-05-1 http://rollespilsakademiet.dk/kpbooks/talk_larp_web.pdf
• Lars Andresen, Charles Bo Nielsen, Luisa Carbonelli, Jesper Heebøll-Christensen, Marie Oscilowski (eds.): Do Larp - Documentary Writings from KP2011. Published by Rollespilsakademiet in conjunction with the Knudepunkt 2011 conference. ISBN 978-87-92507-06-8 http://rollespilsakademiet.dk/kpbooks/do_larp_web.pdf

Video documentation

In 2011 the Knutepunkt conference was documented in a number of videos now published on the Knudepunkt 2011 Vimeo Channel.