350 year anniversary in Larvik
– I have been engaged as local dramaturg for Larvik municipality in the anniversary year . The aim of the anniversary has been to highlight as many aspects of the city’s history as possible. That way, we don’t have to choose whether we want to be Beech City, Maritime City or Industrial City, we can choose to be all of these – because we are both a beech city and a maritime city, and a (former) industrial city that we are proud of that Thor Heyerdahl grew up here, Anne Meek begins enthusiastically, and goes on to say: -We can be proud of Bjørg Eva Jensen too, and Gro Hammerseng and Anja Edin to name a few, because we can release a breadth of stories!
Why did you choose to showcase Larvik?
-in a guide on your mobile?
– To bring out the diversity in the city’s history and not least to be able to show the breadth of what we have to offer here in Larvik.
Moreover, it is available and free for everyone.
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From the walking route “Women in the centre”
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A trail network of the city's stories
-In my research, I see that it is cities that allow for a diversity of narratives, expressions and narrators that get the most out of their cultural investment. That is why it was so exciting for me to work with the audioguide format, because it is a medium that makes it possible for several stories to be told at the same time. It naturally piques the curiosity of the director and dramaturg in me, and after half a year of pondering and planning, we have now planned a trail network of the city’s stories that will be made available through the Voice Of Norway app. It’s wonderful that this is available to everyone at all times – completely free.
-Larvik has a special past as a county where strong power structures were established that have characterized the city over the centuries – and perhaps still do so. As I see it, the most important thing we can do in this anniversary is to highlight groups that have so far been given little space. Places are always changing and it is the people who live, work and visit places that change them.
– We have therefore invited various environments, associations and individuals to create trails in districts or according to themes that have occupied them. First up is the Torstrand trail, Anne explains.
"It's cool to work with a medium that accommodates the multi narrative. Because all places carry many stories at the same time"
Women in the center
-At the last city jubilee, I was 10 years old. I don’t remember hearing about a single woman from the town’s history. With the help of the Larvik museum and the organizations Sentralen for high-heeled shoes, we became aware that there were many exciting women to tell about. In the Women’s Trail in the city centre, you can meet nine remarkable women who were pioneers in the fight for equality.
Who are you Anne Meek
– I grew up in Larvik and am a theater instructor by profession. In recent years, I have also researched this with culture and place development and obtained a PhD in cultural studies on this topic in 2018. I therefore have a particular interest in the relationship between places and stories.
Local ownership
-Further plans include highlighting maritime history, more of industrial history and the city’s honorary citizens. We also create a detective trail for children. In addition, we take the business community with us and in the city center we also collaborate directly with businesses.
Good effort
Jan Cato Skjelbred, our obedient man.
Jon Vidar Tidemand, in Tidemand’s Theatre.
Line Kaupang is the female voice.
Good cooperation with Experio
– It has been exciting to learn about the audioguide medium in collaboration with authors who have experience with the audioguide format. They have also been good at giving us creative leeway so that we could stretch the genre a bit, smiles Anne.
Hip hip hooray for the multi-voiced city
– It has therefore been a great pleasure to help work with Larvik’s many stories as local dramaturg for Larvik municipality in the anniversary year. The focus of the work has been to highlight both individuals, historical eras, companies, activities, institutions, teams and associations. Therefore, a theme has been selected for each month that will celebrate the city’s diversity. The more stories we get out, the more people will feel at home, and that’s how a good place is created, concludes Anne Meek, who looks forward to everyone hearing these great stories.
Main picture: local dramaturg Anne Meek, project manager Camilla Svendsen, actor Line Kaupang and writer Erling Pedersen. Photo: Kjersti Bache, Østlands-Posten (op.no)
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