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GOTLAND'S LITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY:
Whispers from the Past


Whispers from the Past pays tribute to rune script through temporary graffities, which use natural ingredients such as twigs, pine needles or seawater as writing materials. Fragments of the rune alphabet were written on abandoned blocs of limestone found in Visby church ruins.

Some of these ephemeral rune inscriptions were executed by a group of Visby high school students. In a workshop led by the rune expert Magnus Källström from Riksantikvarieämbetet, the students learnt the basics of rune script and started working as “ghost writers”.

In evoking proper names or magic words from generations past, the local young people revisited the ancient tradition and brought it back to life.

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The rune script expert Magnus Källström from Riksantikvarieämbetet interprets a medieval graffiti with Hedvig, one of the students from the Wisbygymnasiet.
There are up to ten ruin churches in and around the small Visby downtown.
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At the end of the workshop, the students warmed up by doing rune gymnastics at the churchyard.
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