Side Magazine accompanies the fourth Bergen Assembly, a contemporary art triennial in Bergen, Norway, which opens in 2022. Under the editorship of curator Yasmine d’O. (b. 2020, Berlin, Germany), Side Magazine combines artistic, literary and scientific writing, with seven issues being released prior to the exhibition. The publication serves as a discursive space for the triennial, which is conceived by artist Saâdane Afif (b. 1970, Vendôme, France). Invited by Afif to curate the triennial, Yasmine d’O. sets out to search for a mysterious seven-sided geometric shape, the heptahedron, and in the process encounters seven characters: the professor, the bonimenteur, the moped rider, the fortune teller, the acrobat, the coalman and the tourist. Each respective issue of Side Magazine is dedicated to one character, with a special eighth issue published after the triennial’s opening, including installation photography.

The first issue, The Professor, features seven articles exploring of the identity, role and position of the Professor. Contributors include Uli Aigner, Lili Reynaud Dewar, Jörg Heiser, Christian Nyampeta, Vivian Slee and Marjorie Senechal.