DAY OF SHADOWS

(En mann kom ned fra Raet)

We live in a world of symbols. Everywhere we look, lines and logos have been etched into the surface of our society: our telephones, our streets, our signs. They are symbols that are designed to carry us onwards – even to the fulfilment of our dreams. 

Some 3000 years ago in Southern Norway it was also important to etch symbols into stone. But these symbols were not confined to daily life and the surrounding world, but the whole of creation on the earth and above. With their carvings in stone the people who lived here have told us how they interpreted the greatest mysteries: life and death, the soul’s journey through the stars, and rebirth in the spring. 

The carvings are of sunships, stargods, and the hand sign of the shaman.

They have been depicted thousands of times, carved just there where the sun goes down into the sea, or where the crown of the hill stretches towards the stars. They tell us of a time when this part of the world was culturally rich and politically powerful. In recent decades, Scandinavian researchers have made huge advances in reading the ‘granite graphology’ – and all the new and exciting interpretations were the basis of our performance. 

The premiere was in Sarpsborg in November 2016, with electronic musician Jonas Bjerketvedt at the turntables. In the summer of 2017 it was transformed into an outdoor performance for the historical St. Olaf Festival (Olavsfestivalen) in Sarpsborg.