The Viking ship launched in Arkhangelsk.

Over one thousand years ago the glorious Norwegian chieftain Ottar told the English king Alfred the Great about his long trip to the White sea and the legendary Bjarmland. The researchers still argue if he finally reached the mouth of the Northern Dvina river when six centuries after his trip the city of Arkhangelsk has been established. But today Arkhangelsk has got its own viking ship built by the international team of artists consisted of the masters from Norway, Germany and Norway.

The huge 12-meters long wooden ship has been opened on Thursday, June 25, in the yard of the Arkhangelsk rehabilitation center for the handicapped children. The idea is to use it as a big playground for the children – patients of the center but the viking ship will also be open for all children of the city.

This is not the only possibility of using the ship for the social events in the city. The director of the Arkhangelsk youth theater Viktor Panov whose young actors made a special performance on the day when the viking ship was laid up has already suggested to use it as one of the open-air stages for the annual festival of the street theaters. Actually the ceremony of opening of the viking ship became a special event of this festival which now is going on in Arkhangelsk and the spectators were especially amazed when the real vikings appeared from the deck-cabin of the vessel. These were the actors of the cultural center “Kulta” from Tromso and their acrobatic performance on the decks of the ship served as a funny background of the ceremony. Viktor Panov promised that during the next year festival his theater will perform a special spectacle “The Scarlet Sails” on the deck of the viking ship for the handicapped children of the city.

The idea of the project belongs to the German artist Wofgang Stubner (photo 2) and his Russian collegue Rashid Sagadeev f(photo 3) rom Arkhangelsk. They met several years ago at one of the festivals in Germany and since that time were hatching the plans to make something together in Russia. This is already the sixth ship for Wolfgang but he says that the Arkhangelsk ship is the biggest of all he ever made. Rashid Sagadeev is famous both in Russia and abroad by his ice and snow sculptures, fire installations and paintings. Their friends and colleagues Rene Gedike, Torbjorn Gundersen, Ivan Galuzin and Sergey Potashev made a fantastic team that was able to finish the construction of the viking ship during only one month. Assistance from the students of Arkhangelsk universities and other volunteers helped them to be on the schedule. Of course the project would not be possible without a grant from the BarentKult program and technical assistance from the Solombala timber plant that provided wood materials for the project.

Natasha Shpanova, the specialist of the Arkhangelsk regional cultural department who was the Russian coordinator of the project, says that the viking ship should not be seen as a single project. This ship will be one of the symbols of friendly relations between the Northern Norway and Russia. It also symbolizes the long maritime history of our region, she stressed. The viking ship project has already become a basis for other kinds of activities like mentioned street theaters festivals and cooperation between “Kulta” and Arkhangelsk youth circus studio “Vesar”. “Kulta” and “Vesar” are now discussing a promising program of cooperation which will include the master classes, joint performances and competence exchange. This means that the viking ship starts its long and exciting journey which will be full of new events, adventures and discoveries.