St Rognvald's voyage inspires Norwegian sisters
By Leah Seator
(Story dated February 15, 2007)

Norwegian sisters, Hanne and Kari Thomsen, who have been campaigning to save a disused power station, and plan to host an exhibition of sails in the building this summer. (Picture:Kenny Pirie)

When Orkney's St Rognvald led 15 ships to the Holy Lands in 1151, he could never have imagined that centuries later his journey would inspire another crusade.

Norwegian sisters, Kari and Hanne Thomsen, have been interested in the links between their country and Orkney for years, and have found a way to use this passion for their very own campaign to save a disused power station in the Lyse Fjord.

One of Orkney's most famous art exhibitions to date, the Sails in St Magnus, which commemorated St Rognvald's journey, is set to go on show for the first time in Norway — in the old power station.

The building, has become the venue for several concerts and exhibitions in the past, thanks to Kari and Hanne, who have done everything in their power to save it.

They were visiting Orkney this week to discuss shipping the 14 large sails to the Lyse Fjord, east of Stavanger, where the power station is located, with a view to attracting tourists to the building which has been threatened in the past with demolition.

Kari, 68, and Hanne, 59, took the opportunity to speak to members of the Orkney-Norway Friendship Association, giving a talk on Rogaland — the county around Stavanger — in the St Magnus Centre earlier in the month.

They are determined to keep the links between Orkney and Norway strong, and hope to bring more tourists to the Lyse Fjord at the same time.

Hanne explained that the stunning area, which is home to the power station, is rarely visited by tourists on foot.

She said: “The Lyse Fjord is about two hours away from Stavanger by boat. There is a big abandoned power station there, and now they are making a new power station inside the mountain, so this old building is empty.

“We are part of a group that is trying to save the building from demolition, and we have had art exhibitions and concerts and things in the summertime.

“Each summer, about 200,000 tourists pass through, but just on the boat. For us, we are interested in getting them to come ashore and go for a walk in this village, which is in between the mountains.”

Kari added: “There were 150 people living there when the power station was still running and they needed workers. They have all gone now and some of these houses have been sold to people as holiday houses.

“It is a beautiful building, outside and inside, and it has a cathedral feel inside. It's a big open room, where we have concerts, and when we were here in May 2005 and we saw the sails in the cathedral, we thought they were so beautiful.”

Hanne said: “A lot of people come to climb there because that is a big thing to do, but there are no roads. You can only come by boat. We think a lot more people than have visited already would be interested in coming to see the sails.”

The sails were first hung in St Magnus Cathedral in 1993, having been created especially for the cathedral.

They were accompanied by text written by George Mackay Brown, and created by local artists Erlend Brown, Dave Jackson, Mary Scott and Andrew Parkinson. The sails are now owned by Orkney Islands Council.

Kari and Hanne are convinced that they will draw a lot of attention in Norway.

They have fought for five years to keep the power station in use, and although it is nearly at the stage where it is safe from demolition, they remain committed.

Hanne said: “We live in Stavanger, but it's a mixture of things that have made us want to save this building. I am interested in hiking in the mountains, and I have always been interested in taking care of the history and the landscape.

“My sister Kari has many connections in the art world, and so we just mixed these two interests. Then it started growing and we've been doing this for about five years. Now we're almost certain that the power station will not be demolished.”

Kari added: “An official organisation, along with the authorities, will take over the responsibilities, and our ‘missionary' work will be over. We will just act as advisors then.

“We have had this thought about the sails now for two years, and we made an agreement with Orkney Islands Council to have it for this summer.

“My family have been members of the Orkney-Norway Friendship Association since 1981.

We didn't know anything about it until I came here in 1981 with my husband and our children. We have been so interested since then, and 23 of us came two years ago on May 17.

“The sails tell the story about the crossing of Rognvald in 1151 when they were building the cathedral. He went with 15 ships on a crusade to Jerusalem, and half of the people on board were Norwegians.

“We think people at home will be very interested in seeing the sails, and we know that there are very good feelings in our area for the Orkney Islands. We have to organise how to ship them to Norway, so we are discussing that with the council this week.”

The sisters are very keen to encourage other artists and musicians in Orkney to make use of the power station.

Hanne said: “Maybe some Orcadian musicians would like to come and do concerts, or even storytellers. We would do everything from our end to help of course. Next year Stavanger is going to be the European cultural city of the year along with Liverpool .

“We think there could be some arrangements made with Orcadians to include them in this. We think that trying to bring together all types of culture and history between the two areas is important because there has been so many connections through time.”