Culture in närhetslivet

If you have experienced performing arts in Boden at some point in recent years, there is a good chance that Linnéa Byberg has been involved. As an executive member of Boden’s Riksteaterförening, she has a major role in our cultural life. “The people of Boden must have a good cultural offer,” she says.

Linnéa Byberg is Boden’s Riksteaterförening’s face to the outside world. She does most things, from booking performing arts from Riksteatern, Norrbottensteatern and independent producers, renting premises and building and carrying help and fixing web tickets to keeping track of finances, marketing events and running social media.

– I want to create great cultural happenings for the people of Boden because I want us to continue to have an active cultural city. Then non-profit volunteers are a must, she says.

She has always been involved in association life and for a long time it was about sports, but the cultural interest had a chance to develop when her son grew up. Because she appeared so often in the theater, she was asked to be a member in 2010 and a couple of years later she stepped in as executive member.

Her interest in performing arts has been with her since childhood when she often hung out with her parents at the theater, not just at children’s shows. Her best theater experience was when, as a twelve-year-old, she saw “Liikavaara-Frans” with her grandfather and afterwards heard the relative’s childhood memories of the man in the play.

– It’s so cool that it really happens here and now. I get so involved in my senses when I get to see something on stage. The great existential questions we can not understand if we can not experience them with our whole body and our whole mind. If we think that everything is just about the body, humanity is lost, says Linnea.

The conversations are the reward

Sure, she can get frustrated if the bodensarna do not show up at the salon, but it is not really the number of visitors that drives her forward.

– To be able to discuss with the audience afterwards, it is one of the things that I love and that makes me feel that it is worth it.

The most important thing for Linnea is not that everyone likes everything they see, she wants to provoke as well.

– Then you have to challenge yourself and think. And that’s what develops Boden.

One of her assignments is to arrange children’s theater for the municipality of Boden and it is precisely the children’s performances that are the most fun to work with, Linnéa says.

– That audience is so direct, where you really get to know at once with everything. To have the opportunity to see the children’s reactions in the show and to talk to them, it actually beats any adult show, she says.

The latest performance was “Rickard Söderberg is Gaytenor”, which was booked over a year ago. And so last fall came the flag burning.

– When Rickard wrote “Boden, get in touch and I will come with a new pride flag”, we already knew that he would come on March 22. And then – butterfly effect – we have Boden’s first pride festival, Northern Light Pride Boden. It’s a big deal for us.

Linnaeus and närhetslivet

Linnéa was born and raised in Boden and chose to settle in Sävast to be close to the university when she studied and still be able to give her son the same chance for a nice upbringing that she herself had.

– There are so many non-profit associations in the city and good opportunities for young people to do sports or practice music. It’s so close at hand, a rehearsal room is just a call away. It’s närhetsliv for me. Where I live, there is good service and there are buses so I can easily get into town, there is also närhetsliv.