Bjørn Agnar Wegge (born 28 August 1947) is a former Norwegian NGO Director.
Degree from University of Oslo: Cand. Philol.
Between 2002 and 2013, Wegge served as the secretary-general of
Stefanus Alliance International Stefanus Alliance International (SAI) is a Norwegian mission and human rights organization, dedicated to defending freedom of belief and religion as expressed in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The organization is based in O ...
, formerly named Norwegian Mission to the East, a Christian missions and human rights organisation, with a special focus on freedom of belief and religion as expressed in Article 18 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal D ...
.
Career
After studying theology, musicology and folklore at University of Oslo ( MA degree in Religion and Philosophy), he worked as a teacher at Tryggheim Folk High School (1995-1997) and later as Director of Culture in
Hå
Hå is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is the southernmost municipality in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the v ...
municipality (1997-1980). From 1980 to 1987 he was Director of Information and Public Relations at the Strømme Foundation, Kristiansand. During this period he attended intercultural studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, Los Angeles USA. In 1987 he accepted the position of information director of Norwegian Santal Mission. Among others he specialized in the Norwegian Humanitarian Enterprise with a special interest in
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
and the theories linking ancient Scandinavia and Azerbaijan, as propounded by
Thor Heyerdahl
Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and Ethnography, ethnographer with a background in biology with specialization in zoology, botany and geography.
Heyerdahl is notable for his Kon-Tiki expediti ...
. In Azerbaijan he initiated the Kish project in Sheki and other cross-cultural projects between Norwegian artists and Azerbaijani artists.
Thor Heyerdahl
Wegge initiated a 1997 musical album involving the Norwegian choir
SKRUK
SKRUK is a Norwegian choir which has toured all over the country and many parts of the world for 50 years with its conductor, Per Oddvar Hildre. It was founded in 1973.
The choir has released more than 25 records over the years, all of them at th ...
and Azeri musicians and singers. The enthusiasm with regards to Dr. Heyerdahl's theory is explicitly stated in the album's title: ''The Land We Came From'', with the choir's leader stating that Azerbaijan (Caucasus-Albania) was "a culture that may be our long-forgotten homeland". The album's cover featured a photograph of the ancient
Caucasian Albania
Caucasian Albania is a modern exonym for a former state located in ancient times in the Caucasus, mostly in what is now Azerbaijan (where both of its capitals were located). The modern endonyms for the area are ''Aghwank'' and ''Aluank'', among ...
n
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
at
Kish
Kish may refer to:
Businesses and organisations
* KISH, a radio station in Guam
* Kish Air, an Iranian airline
* Korean International School in Hanoi, Vietnam
People
* Kish (surname), including a list of people with the name
* Kish, a former ...
near
Shäki
Shaki (, ) is a city in northwestern Azerbaijan, surrounded by the district of the same name. It is located in the southern part of the Greater Caucasus mountain range, from Baku. As of 2020, it has a population of 68,400. The center of the cit ...
.
The relevance of Kish church comes from J. Bjørnar Storfjell's archaeological excavation (also run by NHE and paid for by the help of Norwegian Government), which led Heyerdahl to make a short visit to the Kish church. The result was the appointment of Storfjell as chief archaeologist of a
YUKOS
OJSC "Yukos Oil Company" (, ) was an oil and gas company based in Moscow, Russia. Yukos was acquired from the Russian government by Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky's Bank Menatep during the controversial "loans for shares" auctions of ...
-sponsored excavation to the
Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...
in 2001 to find evidence to back up Heyerdahl's Odin theory. Photographs of artefacts found during the Azov excavation appeared in Heyerdahl's 2001 book ''Jakten på Odin. På sporet av vår fortid'' (''The Hunt for Odin. Examining our Past'').
Personal life
He hails from
Tveit
Tveit is a village and surrounding district in Oddernes borough in the city of Kristiansand in Agder county, Norway. The Tveit district is located in the northeastern part of Kristiansand, northeast of the Topdalsfjorden along the lower part of t ...
and resides in Oslo, is married and has three children. In his early years he played in the jazz band The Real Fake Band with
Eyvind Skeie
Eyvind Skeie (born 5 November 1947) is a Norwegian priest and author.Eyvind Skeie in