On their second visit to the archipelago the light of early summer was replaced by the darkness of rainy November. The arrival was also rather different – this time on the cruise ship from Stockholm amongst crowds of partying youngsters. We met Katja Bonnevier again and the discussion centred on the meadows and the need of more sheep on the islands to graze and thus naturally care for the landscape and its biodiversity. The focus on local food production continued over lunch at the Korpo’s local pub Hjalmar’s. We shared Hotel Nestor with workmen from the construction site of a huge new green house nearby, soon to bring light to the dark winter.
With the marine biologist Christoffer Boström at Korpoström Nomeda and Gediminas got further insight into what is going on under the surface of the sea. We pondered upon different technological solutions on how to bring this closer to people moving above it. The artist Antonia Ringbom joined us on planning possible collaborations between scientists and artists on workshops for school and other groups during the next summer’s exhibition. We agreed on the importance of these processes of exchange across disciplines – as sites of transformation that need to be recognised and valued in themselves, beyond their tangible products! Another wonderfully inspiring visit to Antonia’s home and animation studio was followed by a walk in the dark through rain and a much needed Friday evening sauna.
Before leaving Turku through the archipelago on the aptly named Silja Europa ship, Nomeda and Gediminas followed up a chance encounter from their last visit: engineer Kaj Kivinen told them about early experiments with internet on the remote island of Utö by the military.
