Åsa Lönnqvist and Ylva Rancken-Lutz, both born and bred in the small Swedish-Finnish town of Ekenäs on the coast of the Baltic sea, came up with the idea of The Story Caravan. Annabelle Antas has also joined the project as photographer.

The idea of creating a story project grew out of what we perceived as the lack of an ongoing conversation about visions of the future for our home town Ekenäs. We believe a good way to start this conversation is by talking about specific commons in the town, its maritime and migration heritage and how that has shaped the town and its inhabitants. The harbor of Ekenäs has been the focus of discussion during the last two years because of new development plans which many community members oppose.

The Story Caravan is a interdisciplinary place-making project which aims to deepen local engagement, place identity and co-governing through the arts. Our aim is to develop alternative method tools for a democratic dialogue between community members, cultural institutions, educational institutions, artist and policymakers through place-based storytelling. We want to encourage engagement with and analysis of Ekenäs as the place we call home and encourage an on-going dialogue about pasts and futures related to Ekenäs. At the same time we want to inspire a critical debate about city development, culture, commercialisation, diversity, democracy, migration, transparency and accessibility.

The stories, which will be aired as podcasts – podstories – in Swedish, Finnish and English, will encompass memories, stories of contemporary life and visions for the future.

So lets tune in…. (continue to the Story Caravan site)

Photo Annabelle Antas