Moblogging Jokkmokk 2004

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Believe it or not but at present Jokkmokk seems to be cut off from the internet! The Jokkmokk festival page is down, the city web page is down, the city network does not seem to work, and our team cannot stream/blog from the school where the concert is going to happen in about 45 mins. Hopefully the network will come back online soon… Is there anyone out there who knows anything about this? Has it got anything to do with the fact that Telia’s mobile net is also very unreliable (with so many people in Jokkmokk)?

Update: We are still hoping for the best. We will start the stream as soon as we possibly can. And we will also record the event (until the network comes back to life). We are presently checking network status with Telia. We will report back shortly. We will also to do audio blogs while we are waiting.

Update 2: After having talked to various people at Telia and elsewhere (and maybe I will blog this not too encouraging experience later) we do not know much more than before. Major network problem and beyond our control. Anton has set up a very well set-up network in the school and everything worked very well when we tested earlier. But with no outside-Jokkmokk connection it does not really matter. Well, we did say that the stream was somewhat experimental… What we will do however is to do audio blogging (and the audio blogs do give you a sense of the whole thing), record the whole concert and stream it later (we will post info about this on the blog later). If the network were to come back to live we will immediately start the live broadcast of course. Thanks for your attention and sorry about this!

by Patrik

It is about one and a half hour until the big concert starts. It has been a fun couple of days with the Jokkmokk team. One of the goals with the project is to learn things about moblogging, multi-author narrative and social tools.

I think one interesting aspect has been the relation between live or non-live blogging and reflection/linking. The directness of live blogging and the pressure to blog (because after all you are out there and people are waiting for you to publish) make for a diffierent situation than blogging some reflections while sitting at your computer at home or in your office. The live mode is also not really compatible with a lot of linking. And you need quite a few active bloggers to cover an event like this one. It is very useful to have an “outside blogger” who is not (necessarily) onsite who has a more holistic perspective on the blog and can write blog entries and do some (very light) editing if need be (and adjustments – I just deleted 6 out of 7 entries that were sent from Therese’s pda – they were all the same).
(more…)

I’m testing to blog outside in the market… It’s freezing,but I’m watching beautiful fireworks,so it’s okay. I’ll post some pictures later… Now I’m off to a music cafe. Will try to blog from there (if I have any batteries left – they seem to have quite short “life time” in this cold).

by Therese

It was actually so cold out when I wrote the entry on the PDA, that I had to go in and recharge the batteries before I could send my message… Here is a film clip from the fireworks to end the market.

Download file

by Therese

Now going to go to a crafts fair and try to interview some people about the making of their crafts…*live blog* Jim’s sound check…go to a jazz c?fe with Therese and Anton for dinner…and then, LIVJA (check out the sidebar for live streaming details!!!)

by Stephanie

I tagged along with Stephanie and finally got to se the reindeer race. It was quite funny especially since Stephanie was racing.

Here are two spectators watching the race cloesly as they might be the ones up next.

Here are some movies from the race…

First run for Stephanie.
Download (12Mb)

First run for Jessica from the musik band Sarek.
Download (4.4Mb)

Semi final for Stephanie.
Download (3.8Mb)

The grand final between Jessica and Stephanie. No doubt about it Stephanie’s reindeer is the first one to cross the line, but were is Stephanie??
Download (7Mb)

by Anton

We just got back from the reindeer race and I came in second! Unfortunately, I flew off my sled around the first curve of the finals. It was so much fun! The sleds looked kind of fast when I was watching as a spectator yesterday, but when you on the back of one, being pulled by a very scared reindeer, it seems like you are going *really* fast! What happens is, the handlers place two big sleds side by side and attach struggling reindeer to them. The riders then sit on these sleds, holding onto a thin rope on the sled with one hand, and a rein with the other. The first thought that went through my head was, there is no way I am going to be able to stay on this thing?but I did, well for a while :-)

There was no real start, it was just when the handlers were able to get both reindeer harnessed and then they let go, sort of at the same time. All of a sudden, you are off, racing around a small track with the snow being kicked up in your face by frantically running animals. There were eight competitors, all picked from the audience. We competed in four heats, two semi-finals, and a final heat. I made it to the finals, but fell off my sled in the last seconds, rolled up, and jogged into the finish line. I even won a t-shirt and a bag of polar bread! What more can you ask for?!?

by Stephanie

I am not a technology expert, far from it. Participating in this project is definitely a challenge for me on a technical level (I have never before used a PDA and this is the first time I take pictures with a digital camera – probably noticeable :). There is a big threshold to get over, and during this project I have come to realize that I’m not quite over it yet… One example: The picture below shows four potential interviewees from Germany (Henrik, Ulrike, Inez and Rike). I was going to record an interview with them about their experiences of the market, but after just 10 seconds of recording the camera went dead. I had mistaken the memory icon for the battery icon and the battery was dead, whereas the memory was almost full? We had a nice chat, though, and a nice cup of tea.

I don’t mind experimenting and learning. On the contrary I am glad I’ve had this opportunity to do so. Also, having help from people who know more about technology than I do (like Stephanie, Anton and Fredrik back in HUMlab) makes things much easier. I think that many interesting things can develop when combining humanist approaches with technology, and I believe that, even though it is important to have some knowledge in both areas, collaboration between people with different types of skills seems to be the key.

by Therese

Tonight’s concert seems to me in many ways as a journey through cultures as represented by music but often not in mass media forms. Beginning in the north of Sweden (Norrland) with the songs of Johan Piribauer who sings about the occupation and exploitation of the traditional S?mi lands. Kristina Andersson and Berry Johansson compose music and sing songs with themes around the nature, space and climate of Norrland, but from the cultural perspective of the Swedish people who live here.
Several members of the group have travelled in Africa and we have one rhythm which was learnt there by Stefan. Songs such as “The Legend of the Solar Tamborine” by Carolyn and Nigel have been inspired through travel and contact with the cultures of the Siberian tribal peoples. Tatsuya comes from Japan but has travelled to Mongolia many times, studying for several years the music of western Mongolia. He will be singing and playing in several songs tonight. Seth Folsom is our violin and banjo player who sings and plays the old folk tunes of the United States, These are moving songs about people who are generally not read of in history books. The jail cell poets and drifters who often left unmarked graves. Our circumanvigation of the globe in music ends back in Sweden with the singing and playing of Erland and Celilia.
I myself grew up on the Darling Downs region of Queensland Australia. My early life in the 1970′s was pretty much absent of any sort of contact or education in regard to Aboriginal people or culture- I remember saying to my grandfather how I liked the sound of their ceremonial singing and he told me he did not. There was book in our school library of Dreamtime legends and I remember being a bit scared of the pictures (this was when I was about 8 years old and going to a Lutheren Church school, a church which did a lot of early missionary work in Aboriginal communiites).

I did not really have anything other than negative or ignorant inputs about Aboriginal culture and history until I was at University at the age of 19. There I came into contact with Aboriginal activists and educational programs. I began working as a journalist with the student paper covering the stories about Murri (Aboriginal) activities on campus.
It was about this time I read John Pilger’s book A Secret Country……..it was a revelation. It felt as though I had been lied to for many years about the early white history of Australia. I was shocked but it was an experience that reflected what was happeneing all over Australia. There was a growing movement toward a recognition of the injustices that had occured in the past and a willingness to adjust the directions taken from those dark points in our history. In 1992 the Mabo case was decided in the High Court of Australia and after 204 years of white occupation it was legally proven that Australia was an inhabitated land at the time of first white settlement.
I moved to Sydney in 1992 and was soon living in Redfern, a neighbourhood that was some of the first land given back to Aboriginal people in 1973. It was not a gentle and easygoing neighbourhood but it was very alive. There were 12 tribal groups living in a few dozen houses near the train station. It was here that I began playing Didgeridoo (the Yolngu aboriginal name is Yidaki which means trachea, with Didgeridoo being a European name by the sound it makes – kangaroo actually means ‘there it goes’ in a Port Jackson language group).
As I am a white 5th generation Australian there were a lot of politics involved in the playing of a Didge- If I walked anywhere with it in Redfern it had to be wrapped in a blanket as if I was seen with it by an Aboriginal there could often be a discussion about “what are you doing with that”. Usually these were not agressive but just making sure of my intentions. I was once at a concert and a women in the band was playing Didge and an Aboriginal man started yelling that she shouldn’t be playing, and he was really upset. In some tribal groups (NOT ALL) there is ban on women even touching a Didge.
I first came to Europe in 1997 and after about 6 months here I began playing Didge on the streets to make money (busking) and from this experience (I stayed in Europe until the beginning of 1999 that time) I play Yidaki in an obsessive way. I try to play at least an hour a day and for me it is a deeply important, one could even say sacred, thing.

by Jim

We’re going to watch Steph reindeer racing at 2. You’ll get picture proof of it soon!

by Therese

I met Gun Hofgaard a frame drum and instrument maker and artist from Jokkmokk while walking around the craft stalls here at the market. Here are some pictures of her works:

by Jim

I asked international travellers and musicians Nigel and Carolyn and their daughter Cedar some questions about their unique lives and how they feel about preserving the works of ancient cultures.

1. Can you introduce yourselves and say a few words about what you do?

“I am Nigel Shaw, a composer, musician, and instrument maker.”
“I am Carolyn Hillyer, an artist, musician, and writer. We live in the middle of Dartmoor, misty moorlands of South West England. We are travelling with our daughter, Cedar, age 10.”

2. Is the Jokkmokk market a very diffferent experience for you in regards to performing? If so, how?

“It is both similar and different! Similar because we are used to travelling with our music and performing in front of new and varied audiences. Different because we have been wanting to come here to the far north with our music for a long time, and it has been a special pilgrimage to play in the frozen lands. The market itself is similar to festivals around the world including Glastonbury in Englan and Maleny Woodford but much colder!”

3. In your performances you use sampled and sourced material. Can you briefley explain some of the motivation and rational behind this?

“We have always been influenced by music from around the world and are inspired by the sounds of nature, especially Dartmoor. Most recently we have been working with archive recordings from the Siberian Arctic, given to us when we were travelling in Russia. Some of these recordings were made back in the 1930′s. These beautiful ancient melodies and voices became the heart of the Ancestor’s Project (recorded last year). WeSurvival International ( a charity working for the rights of tribal people around the world). Survival run projects supporting land rights in the Arctic.”

4. Cedar, what do you want to do when you grow?

“I would like to be a clothes designer and also a guitarist. I love the snow here in Jokkmokk.”

5. What are your plans for the immediate future?

“We are travelling north to Kiruna to saty one night at the Ice Hotel. Then we are returning to England where we are currently woking on new recording and painting projects. Our concert program in the U.K. begins in the Spring.

by Jim

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Here are some photos from one of the greatest tourist attractions here in Jokkmokk: Renrajden (the reindeer ride?). I succeeded in finding the a bit outside the market space, where there is less people. Otherwise I would probably not have been able to get any pictures.

And a somewhat shaky and fuzzy video clip can be downloaded here

by Therese
And a somewhat shaky and fuzzy video clip can be downloaded here

This is a slightly delayed update from the dance yesterday (been busy putting up information about the concert in the meantime).

The video shows a type of circle dance where everyone holds hands and runs in this circular, hurricane-like motion while rhythmically stamping your feet. I participated in this one, and it was a lot of fun. It felt a little like being in a roller coaster. The music kept getting faster and faster until we reached this crescendo of motion where people were running into each other and laughing. Before people filled the rooms, they were very cold. After a little dancing, though, the rooms were filled with a warmth and friendliness that chased away the cold night air (which was a chilly -26C).

Dancing Video

by Stephanie

The market streets are filling up again despite cold temeratures. I wonder were the best bargains could be made? Does anyone know? I really don’t know what I’m looking for.

By the way taking out your Pocket PC and exposing your fingers to make live blogs doesn?t feel like an option right now. Using it with gloves on could prove rather difficult as well.

by Anton

Jim, our long lost blogging brother, has been busy practicing with an international band of musicians who have come together for the first time on Thursday night to begin rehearsal for their performance at 8pmCET tonight. We have heard many of these musicians during practice or when they were playing other concerts and they were great! Tonight should be a real treat!!! Don?t miss it! The live stream link is below.

The LiveStream!  (update: this link only worked during the stream)

by Stephanie

There is something to be said about staying with a family while on trips like this. This morning, around the breakfast table, we were discussing the cold and our hosts offered me eye protection for the reindeer race today. I can?t decide, the yellow or the orange?

by Stephanie

I had a great time last night at the dance house. It was probably the best thing I’ve done so far at this market – people were very friendly, and dancing together created a familial atmosphere. As you might have noticed, I was also very excited about being able to liveblog for real. Tonight’s concert with Livia, which we’ll live stream is in the same facility, so we should be able to do some interesting live reporting from that event as well. After the dance house some people I met there invited me to come along to the by now well famous red barn in the woods. There I met the rest of the blog team, and we had a fun time dancing folk dance. Here’s a picture of Stephanie and Anton trying to dance the Schottis.

Today I’m thinking of going to an exhibition made by students at the S?mi educational centre. Perhaps I can find someone there who’s willing to do an interview about S?mi language and it’s status in the Swedish society. Other things I would like to do is visit a music caf? where the theme will be S?mi spirituality, and to take some more photos outside. I definately want to watch Stephanie race with her reindeer at 14.00 as well. I’d better get going!

by Therese

The basketball court does however remind you that there is a Jokkmokk during summer as well. From what I have seen the nature is very beautiful around here. I think visiting Jokkmokk during the summer time would be very nice as well.

by Anton

We have pictures and video from last nights dancing which we will upload as soon as we get to the location that we are blogging from. The way we have things set up, we need to be on our own computers to download them, and we do not have the capability to use them here. Our host is kindly letting us use his personal computer to give a morning update. (Therese is being brave at the moment and trying coffee cheese?a cheese that melts in her coffee. According to our hosts, it is not the taste that is important, but rather the chewy sensation of the cheese. Therese (I am having a bit of a translation problem with the word gnessla), says that it does not taste much, but it does have a special texture.

Last evening was great fun. The dance was located in an old red barn. Swedish barns are separated into two separate rooms with a sort of hallway in the middle. In one room, a band of folk musicians were playing and many people were dancing. In the other, two women were showing the crowds how to do the dances (although we did not realize that when we first got there). I danced with a travelling German man several times before Anton and I went to the next room to actually learn the folk dance that we had attempted earlier. Later Therese and Jim came and we switched partners. Poor Jim and Anton?I not only stepped on their feet, but on most of the people?s feet around me. It was, however, great fun! We all enjoyed it, and it was a perfect stress reliever after a long, fun day.

Tonight we will go see Jim play with LIVJA at 8pm CET. We have heard a little from their practice and it will be amazing. We post the live streaming link in about an hour. First we must walk to our office?in -29C. We are hoping that we do not turn into a popsicle on the way!

by Stephanie

Through morning SMS from the blog team I have been informed about current temperature in Jokkmokk: -29C (-24F). That is really COLD. I am sure we will get further reports about the weather situation…

by Patrik

Someone seams to have been driving their snow mobile a little bit too fast and furious. This picture was taken on Friday night at 01:25 am as we were going back from the Hembyggdsgården.

by Anton

Our breath quickly turns into a cloud of ice crystals in the cold weather as we walk home. Luckily we were all very warm from the Schottis dancing.

by Anton

The Moblogging Jokkmokk 2004 project has been featured in the Guardian, the online section! Thanks to Tony Fisher, Nottingham, for this information (this is his comment in this blog). The Guardian article (“Web watch/Northern Lights”, Sean Dodson) can be found here.

“Northern lights
Today is the start of the Jokkmokk winter festival. Jokkmokk, 70km north of the Arctic Circle, is the cultural capital of Lapland. Every year it hosts a three-day market and festival celebrating the culture of the S?mi people, who live in an ice-bound homeland that stretches from the North Sea coast of Norway to the vast north of Russia. This year, a team from Ume? University in Sweden will create a moblog (a photo weblog using camera phones) of the three-day event. According to the site, the moblog combines “elements of art installation, documentary, diary and the genre of road movie in extreme weather conditions”. It also lets you experience a unique cultural event as it happens on Europe’s northern fringe.
www2.humlab.umu.se/jokkmokk2004 www.turism.jokkmokk.se/eng.shtml “

by Patrik

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Ive just finished five hours of didgeridoo playing after practicing with the band. I was hoping to be able to upload some pictures but without another computer I cannot (I have returned to an empty shop in the centre of Jokkmokk).
The Japanese Throat singer Tatsuya told me the reason he came to Jokkmokk originally (he has been travelling for two years and was first here a year ago) was because Jokkmokk is the brand name of a chocolate bar he likes in Japan. He saw it on a map and decided he must visit. It is interesting how some people build the narrative of their lives, some on chance occurances, some on planned decisions and others on fond memories and agreeable sensations.
It is very cold tonight but I think I shall walk passed the folk dance that I rememebr from the last time I was here in Jokkmokk (2002) and see if the fiddles are playing again in the old red barn in the forest-

by Jim

I am waiting for Therese to return so we can go out, but while I was doing that I started reading through the blog (imagine that :-) Something has happened that exemplifies one of the main benefits of the blog, immediate (or at least often with very little time-lag) sharing of information. On this post I wrote about a speech I had just heard. The speaker also mentioned how new the S?mi day is (thanks Magnus), but I did not catch that. This immediate revision/correction/sharing of information is a great advantage to this type of event coverage.

Also have been reflecting on the type of blogging that we have done the last two days. Yesterday, we tried to blog constantly. We stressed running from one place to another to cover as many activities as we could. We would often leave the activity early to blog about it before running to the next. That type of quick blogging has both advantages and disadvantages. You gain something by the rapid processing of information, but lose something that I feel is central to a blog. When you blog at the speed of thought, you often do not take the time to reflect or enrich your entries with links, links that often provide much more context than you could say in a short post. Today we tried something different. We tried experiencing things, then blogging. We came across a similar problem. We were still running from one thing to the next, without blogging about it. We ended up marathon blogging in the late afternoon, when things had slowed down. I am sure that the type of technology we have chosen has played a role. We are using wireless connections, which we needed to upload the type of extra files we are using. On the other hand, it does limit our ability to live blog. If we had used GPRS, we could have blogged from anywhere, but not as visually. Also, at a market of this size, telephone networks tend to crash. I guess the point is that it depends on what type of blogging we are trying to do. If we want immediate reactions, GPRS would be the better solution. If you want more experience, than bredband is necessary.

Tomorrow we will attempt to strike a balance between rushing everywhere and blogging. This is, after all, an experiment. One that I believe is proving to be valuable in testing the different uses of blogging capabilities.

by Stephanie

And b.t.w., the flute was made of plaster…

by Therese

I got an interview with one of the members of Orientexpressen, Dan Lundberg, who told me that the reason why the band got together and started playing in the first place was because there was a group of dancers who wanted to dance to this type of music. At first they mainly played dance music (he compares that music to the music the ensemble from Framn?s was playing earlier), but now they have moved over to concert music instead. Dan says that this these are completely diffferent experiences. He really enjoys playing dancing music, which is what they will move on to now – especially when there are people dancing:
- This creates a feeling of completeness.

I also had an opportunity to ask him about the flute. Will tell you more about this later… Have to go dancing!

by Therese