We are very happy to announce that Whateverland, together with scientists at Mid Sweden University, Nordic Chamber Ensemble in Västernorrland and Swedish artist Tove Berglund have been granted funding from Swedish Arts Council for a project called “Skogens berättelser” (eng. “Stories of the forest”).
In the project we will create an interactive soundscape where the listener can move between music, poetry, personal stories and reflection about the forest. With the soundwork we want to create a deeper understanding of the forest, its complex nature and history. The project will be available for the public at Norra Berget in Sundsvall during spring 2024, the same year the city celebrates 400 years.
Visitors will be able to take part of the soudscapes via an app built by Whateverland. The tech solution creates an interactive and “seamless” sound walk and is customized for these types of settings with the purpose to increase people’s empathy for their sourroundings via artistic and scientific content.
With the soundscapes we want to highlight stories that are rarely listened to when the history of the forest in Västernorrland county is described in order to give a greater understanding of the forest and the people who depend on it. Some of these perspectives will come from the minority groups Sámi, whose culture and existence are deeply rooted in the forest, and forest Finns, who belong to a Finnish minority in Västernorrland.
In the project we will also tell about the forest through a scientific, biological lens which places the listener in the epicenter of climate change with the aim to give the listener a physical understanding of the consequences of the 6th mass extinction. The soundscape will both contain voice narrations and music. The latter is meant to capture the forest's own narrative and will be composed by Bernt Karsten Sannerud, sound designer at Whateverland, together with the Nordic Chamber Ensemble in Västernorrland County.
At Whateverland we believe in cross-sectional collaborations to create value for people, businesses and the society. This project, where we bring together competences within science, sound and music, tech and art is one example of what such an interdisciplinary collaboration can generate.