PROJECTS: CONFLUENCE ARRIVES IN SCANDINAVIA

By Karla Suzanne Ofjord

The next two years are going to be exciting, so just keep reading. The Confluence boat has set its sails to Scandinavia and is heading off at great speed!

To make it clear for you who is writing this post, I have to take a few steps back in time. My name is Karla Suzanne, I work as a storyteller, together with three other girls, (see above, from l to r: Synne, Thea, (me) and Ine Mariel), in a storytelling group called StorySquad. We come from Norway. Our group is based in Oslo even though we come from four different cities spread across the country. StorySquad is celebrating 1 year this January 2019.

To get to the point I will have to explain something. How did we become a part of Confluence? Well, in July 2018 a message ticked in to StorySquad’s Facebook page. The message was from Laura from Scotland who was travelling through Scandinavia and wanted to get in touch with Norwegian storytellers for a Celtic and Scandinavian project. Soon after she invited us to take part in a residency in Morocco, where we held workshops and told stories. This was only the beginning for us. The Confluence boat that has travelled from Scotland to Morocco and back again many times, is now travelling back and forth between Scotland and Scandinavia.

This new project is about creating a network between Scotland and the Nordic countries. We will together create a book which combines both the Celtic and Nordic culture with images taken by photographers from both cultures, and new and traditional stories gathered by the storytellers from both cultures. StorySquad is busy collecting traditional Norwegian folkloristic stories. Stories about the many creatures who live in our forests, in our mountains, oceans and lakes. Like bears, foxes, trolls, draugen, nøkken and fossekallen. But also stories about princesses, kings and queens, old ladies and witches. And our dearest and most known hero; the Ash Lad.

The Confluence team will meet up in different countries over the next couple of years for residencies where there will continue to host performances and workshops in both storytelling and photography.

Stay tuned for what will be a couple of exciting years and a book to be!