When Harleen Kalkat and Magnus Karlsson found the right cultural venue in Svartlå, several pieces fell into place. Now parts of their company, Inland Produktion, are moving here – at the same time as the twins Selma and Astrid have started Year 1 at Svartlå School.
If walls could talk, the Kalkat-Karlsson family’s house in Svartlå would probably have quite a lot to tell. The property used to be a Pentecostal church for many years, then a youth centre and also a home. Now it is being transformed into a meeting place for creative work, theatre, performing arts and music.
Harleen works as a screenwriter, actor and director. Magnus is a musician and technician. Together they have carried out a large number of productions and collaborations around Norrbotten. This spring, among other things, Boden residents could see the performance The Journey to Boden, created together with school students and performed in Boden.
They have already been working with, among others, their culture colleague Marianne Strand from Bodträskfors. She tipped them off about a flea market in Svartlå, and it turned out that the house that housed the flea market was also for sale and had exactly what they were looking for.
“We’ve been looking for the right venue all along, and this one got the green light on everything. It isn’t that big and has a reasonable running cost, but at the same time it’s big enough to work as a rehearsal space and for us to put on performances here,” says Harleen, gesturing out into the venue with its high ceilings and generous windows.
A new chapter for the family
But it’s not only the house that is getting a new lease of life. The family is also creating a new life here in Svartlå. The twin daughters Selma and Astrid have just started Year 1 at the village school and are already making friends here. For the time being, the family is living next to the business premises while they sell their home in Moskosel, which they are moving from. But they are also looking for the right house for family life in Svartlå.
Here in Boden Municipality we often talk about proximity life – having everything important close by. The Kalkat-Karlsson family’s new life is a clear example of that. A 40-minute journey to work and school has been replaced by a few minutes’ bike ride to a school with small class sizes where the children thrive; they can walk to friends in the village on their own, and the family has the forest and the river just around the corner. And the parents’ workplace right in the middle of the village.
Part of the village community
Harleen and Magnus also quickly became part of the area’s association and cultural life.
In connection with Svartlå Cultural Association’s annual harvest festival, they were invited as a natural part of a well-attended day for all ages. Magnus gave an organ concert and Inland Produktion held an open house, side by side with open workshops and farms offering blacksmithing, watercolour painting, pottery, harvest soup, a motor café, a market and an evening of troubadours.
“Here it feels like the thresholds are low and it’s easy to get settled in, both with the municipality and with people,” says Harleen.
Based in Svartlå, they are currently working on the music and storytelling performance Midwives in Roadless Land. Also imminent is their official inauguration of the venue on September 8. At that time, they will present the performance aptly named Strike Root in Motion.
TEXT: ANNA BERGSTRÖM, PHOTO: MATS ENGFORS, FOTOGRAPHIC
