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SKOGFOSS PAGE UPDATED
The Skogfoss reading has been updated to include a short story of the meeting with Abraham and Agnes Randa, two friendly inhabitants of the forests of Pasvik.
A BENGALI QUESTION
 Recently a Bengali reader, Sri Laral Mukherjee of Calcutta, wrote RR an email. He asks if ruralreaders.net could take a closer look at films made in tollywood (made in calcutta) and bollywood: Can any scripts of these two great traditions be considered as rural readings or not? Mr Mukherjee especially wonders about the refined dancescenes - especially in the films of Shah Rukh Khan (right). Almost all of these scenes are imploded into rural landscapes even if the rest of the story is situated in the middle of a city. Mr. Mukherjee wonders how this is possible. A good question.
MANY YEARS BEYOND
Sarada Devi and her fellowsaintfriend Sri Ramakrishna suddenly appeared in Calcutta. This happened in the middle of one of our rural readings in Cal last week. We understood this to be a consequense of the extensive devotion of goddess Kali the last weeks. These two saints lived at the turn of the last century and have been residing in the great beyond for many years. The incident was also reported by many Indian dailies. It happened at a Kali-altar in Hazra Road. Later, the bengali daily The Statesman could report that Sri Ramakrishna and Sarada Devi were only look-a-likes. Ruralreaders.net will report more later on.
MURMANSKROVANIEMIKIRKENES
A new configuration of material has been added to the ruralreaders collection. Visit the photographic art of Morten Torgersrud. Previously presented as a book and exhibition, it is here presented as a slideshow with the music of Einar S. Martinussen based on recordings from the three cities (click link below to start): MURMANSKROVANIEMIKIRKENES The towns of Murmansk, Rovaniemi and Kirkenes were all destroyed during World War II. Thus, the towns are all built from scratch and the national re-erection strategies all too visible: The tower blocks and parade streets of the USSR, the architecture and town planning of Alvar Aalto, the module housing of the Norwegian state bank for housing. In this perspective, the urban landscapes of Murmansk, Rovaniemi and Kirkenes read like the visual ruins of communist and social democratic ideology.
A MEMORY HOLE
In an industrial sense a hole is all about making room for explosives to do their work and bring out the gold. But as a child a hole or small cave (for instance in the hills around Bjørnevatn) is a place to store memories. There are a lot of stored memories to be found in holes. In a scientific sense a hole is digging out the memory of the earth. The holes of Sør-Varanger and the Barents region are somehow all connected. The Trifon Cave at Elvenes, the Andersgrotta beneath Kirkenes, the mines of Tippen, and even the worlds deepest man-made hole (superdeep) between Nikel and Zapolyarny. |