Charged Utopia
Charged Utopia (Prisat Utopia) was an experiential event designed and produced on the island of Norrbyskär in Northern Sweden in August 2016. Facts of the island rich industrial history bring the story of the place to life for visitors. To raise wider issues around the political and ethical aspects of Utopian ideals. What are the parallels between Kempe’s Utopia, the Swedish Folkhemmet and the European dreams of inclusion and solidarity?
Visitors to the island were given a "passport to utopia" upon disembarking the ferry. The passport was a double sided image burned onto a piece of driftwood sourced from the island.
On their journey from the quay to the island's museum, visitors were guided along an experiential path formed by seven interactive installations. Each installation was built from materials found on the island; remnants of its past such as driftwood, pulleys and cast-iron. These stations presented questions to visitors meant to raise discussion and elicit personal reflection on the price one would be willing to pay in order to belong to an utopian community.
The main space in the museum featured four interactive installations: video projections and directional audio could be triggered by moving tree trunks around the space. The center of the space was filled by a sculptural wave made from hanging pieces of driftwood.
BY RISE Prototyping Societies, Umeå School of Architecture, Norrbyskär Museum, KFUM, Umeå Kommun and RATS Theatre.
Designed by Jeroen Peeters, Ambra Trotto, Nigel Papworth, Carla Collevecchio, José Carlos Sanchez Romero, Olov Långström, Harvey Bewley, Niklas Ajling, Pernilla Glaser, Toby Reid, Jerôme Cézac, Randy Cottin, Stoffel Kuenen, Nicola Fackel, Thomas Latcham, Carlotta Fuster, Nike Kuenen and Ulysse Kuenen.
Thanks to Stina Haglund, Ana Betancour, Hans-Ola Stenlund, Reine Lööf and Aurora Trotto.
2016, Norrbyskär, Sweden