Depicting The Untold/Stories From Känsö Island
So, I attended this course on the archive and colonialism. In the source material I found an archive photo of the small island Känsö. It depicted the old red and white quarantine houses, which the military-controlled island is famous for. I live on the island just next to Känsö and I see the little tower, Känsö torn, from the ferry every day on my way home.
I did some research on the history of the island and found out that Känsö was used as a quarantine station in the 19th Century due to the fear of the diseases that flourished in Europe at that time. People that came in with the ships had to stay for 40 days if they showed any symptoms of illness, before they could continue to the main land. The suspects where put in a small wooden boat which was hoisted up into a space where the infected man or woman was washed with vinegar. The clothes were taken off with long wooden rods with metal pins.
The washing procedure was repeated once a day.
Besides the red and white houses there is also a small, white house called Parloiren. That’s where the family and friends came to visit the people who where put in quarantine. They entered Parloiren from separated doors and inside they sat opposite each other and between them there were bars and a section where sulphur was burned in order to keep the diseases away from the visitors.
Imagine all the stories that must have been taking place on Känsö island.
Could I go there? I thought. Could I perhaps somehow go to Känsö and try to find the hidden stories and dramas that must have been a fact back in the days when you thought 40 days was a good period of time for
making sure you would be able to be around people after having a disease, since it says in the Bible that after 40 days you are free from your sins.
Unfortunately, no one is allowed to go to Känsö except for the military.
A big failure. My longing for Känsö grew bigger and I desperately thought of possible ways of getting there (take my own little boat by night? Flirt with an officer?)
Then something happened.
By mistake, I received an email from the local cantor, Rune, who is leading the church choir. The email was intended for the members of the choir (which I’m not) and I read:
Come with us for a unique opportunity to sing at the church service at Känsö the 19th of May, just send me your personal number in order to get the permission from the military!
I was stunned. I immediately answered that I was happy to join the church choir (I am not even a member of the church) and that I would like to bring my daughter along on the trip.
Rune emailed me the sheet music needed for the choir.
So, at eleven am, the 19th of May 2019, my daughter and I entered the ferry that would take us to Känsö island. On the ferry I was asked by the church choir if I identified myself as a soprano or an alto? I answered that I did not know yet, but that I will find out.
This is the story of how I ended up in singing Sommarpsalm - En vänlig grönskas rika dräkt (my absolute favourite psalm of all time) in front of quite a big mass of church members from all of the islands, on Känsö.
Afterwards, we went on a guided tour on the island. The guide was very knowledgeable and I learned a lot about the history of Känsö. I was very excited about everything and photographed with my old Rolleiflex, with
a strong desire to capture the invisible, I thought I heard whisperings from the 19th century. I’m pretty sure I heard distant laughter and once I had to stop walking in order to sharpen my hearing since I definitely noticed the cold sound of moaning, in the hot summer weather. When the guided tour was over, so was my film roll and I carefully put it back in my rucksack. We took the ferry back to our island and I was tired but quite happy with the whole experience.
When I developed the film roll and scanned it I discovered that
every
photograph
I had taken was
out of focus.