Whispers from the Past revisits the tradition of rune writing. Starting from the oldest known inscriptions in the 3rd century, the rune alphabet was frequently used on the Gotland Island, and the writing system prospered and continued to exist alongside roman letters for well over 1000 years.
The work pays tribute to rune writing in the form of temporary graffiti, using natural ingredients such as twigs, pine needles or seawater as writing materials.
Fragments of rune inscriptions will be retraced from the archives and from Gotland museum's collections to create traces of script on the empty stones slabs that remain in the Visby church ruins.
The rune inscriptions in the ruin churches will be executed by a group of young adults (e.g. high school students) who in a workshop led by a rune expert will learn the basics, and start working as “ghosts” who through the act of rune writing will bring back to life ancient tradition that evokes proper names or magic words from generations past.
Examples of temporary graffiti using pine branches to create the rune script alphabet in the St.Hans and the St.Karin church ruins in Visby.
