(yes, it is) 23 of May – 26 of June I’ll be one of three residents in the project Walking Peace in the Avian Kingdom in Sweden, organised by ARNA at the very spot where two pilgrim trails meet in Harlösa. Walking Peace is a green, slow and peaceful way of making new connections across cultural backgrounds and religions, creating art as a statement for peace while walking. Afterwards I'll be researching the pioneer life in Värmland.

12.5.13

this is what happened

April 3d 2013. Day 109. I had been wearing a three piece walking suit for 108 days in a row. I used it as my notebook, embroidering texts and drawings on the inside. I called it my "soft armour". I had decided (with some help of Thoreau) I had to wear it until the wearer had transformed. Day 109 I realised I already had a soft armour. I realised the only way to make a difference is by being yourself. I realised I had to quit aiming for an academic career and start walking. Start and never stop. So I walked in my first, my original soft armour through the city. And a few hours later I received an e-mail with an invitation to walk in the Avian Kingdom in Sweden.

I will buy myself a new three piece walking suit. I will wear it in Sweden every day for 5 weeks in a row. I will wear it during the planned walks for which all sorts of organisations and individuals are invited (and everybody is welcome to join). I will wear it while doing other things. Meeting people. Shopping for groceries. Strolling through the village. Hosting dinner parties. And wherever I am, whatever I do, whenever there are people around I will ask them if they want to exchange a piece of their clothing with a piece of my suit. I will cut out two identical pieces and swap them, sew my suit-piece in the other person's clothing and his or her piece in my suit. After five weeks, my complete suit will be dispersed among the people I met. They will all wear a small piece of my suit. And I will go back to where I came from wearing a suit consisting of bits and pieces of the people I encountered.