Roskilde Parahistory was part of the group exhibition Kurs at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Roskilde in 2009. Over a period of 107 days, Anders Bojen and Kristoffer Ørum had a custom computer program rewrite the history of Roskilde in real time, from the town’s foundation by the Vikings in 980 to its present-day status as a world heritage site. The virtual history book appeared on two projection screens: one mounted on Roskilde’s main square and another inside the exhibition. The screens displayed a new page every few minutes, allowing both visitors to the medieval church and local citizens passing through the square to encounter the rewritten history.

The computer generated the text using statistical analysis and algorithmic text generation, drawing from two databases developed by the artists: one containing material from the local history archive, and another containing local myths, legends, and conspiracy theories. The resulting text alternated between objective and scientific passages and poetic or raving narratives. Historical facts, such as names of kings or weather reports, were interwoven with stories of the Rosicrucian Order, royal lizards, and extraterrestrials landing on the outskirts of town.