06-15 July 2021

 
'Float your boat' was a video project starring your origami boats, organized by the Norwegian artist Sveinung Nygaard.
 
He explains: 'For me, water is such a powerful metaphor that seems to be part of all things I do. When I pondered what IofC is to me, the image of many drops that form a powerful river came to mind. We are continually shaping the story that is our individual and collective lives and I wanted to bring our personal stories, the adventure that the waterways are beckoning us to and the unstoppable force that comes from the unity of this into one whole.
As a composer I wanted to use music but also visuals to give an emotionally inspiring description of the process but also a call to unity and adventure on any water way you might find yourself on or going towards.
Of course we should all take part of forming this and hence the invitation goes out! The mosaic of one image made from many small images, each drop carries with it a picture of the whole ocean, and the rainbow.'
 

When I pondered what IofC is to me, the image of many drops that form a powerful river came to mind.

 
Everybody was invited to join in and send in their films on their own origami boats (see more below)! All films were edited together to a 5-minute video, representing the diversity of Initiatives of Change and connecting the stories of participants from all over the globe.The music for the final video is a piece of music which was written especially for this purpose by Sveinung Nygaard.
 
It was played on 1 August at the Day of Gratitude, in line with the water motif adopted by IofC artists to celebrate the 75 Years of Encounters.
 
 
 

This is how people were asked to participate

1. Film your own story being written.

 

Float your boat 1

 

2. Fold the story into an origami boat and...

 

Float your boat 2

 

 

3. Set it afloat on water.

 
Float your boat 6
 
 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Watch the final video 'Like Water We Will Be'

 
  • Filmed by Hamza Gandour, Richard Weeks, Markus Göransson, Lisa Yasko, Volodymyr Pylypenko and Sveinung Nygaard
  • Vocals by Sveinung Nygaard, Richard Weeks, Nik Dee Dahlström, C-J Foster, Markus Göransson, Aching Shaza
  • Flugel Horn by Nick Foster
  • Tin Whistle by C-J Foster
  • Composed and edited by Sveinung Nygaard
 

________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Discover the artist

 

Sveinung Nygaard

Sveinung Nygaard is from Norway and works as a professional composer, with MA in Audio Production from University of Westminster. He has composed music for world handball championship in Qatar, the TV series Freej in Dubai and has his own musical project called FLYT which explores how music can unite a mosaic of cultures. Sveinung believes in telling stories with music and connecting people. He has created a group called ‘The Bards’ who focus on using their music to support work with the environment and particularly climate change.

 

 

 

Photos: Sveinung Nygaard


related stories

This is us square 8.png

75 Years of Stories: Meet the team!

When we launched the 75 Years of Stories series in February 2021 about 75 years of encounters at the Initiatives of Change conference centre in Caux, we had no idea what an adventure we had embarked o...

Caux in snow 2021 credit Cindy Bühler

2021: Initiatives of Change Switzerland – Opening Caux’s doors to a new chapter

As our series of 75 stories for 75 years of the Initiatives of Change conference centre in Caux draws to an end, the President of Initiatives of Change Switzerland, Christine Beerli, and its two Co-Di...

Aad Burger

2020: Aad Burger – Struck by a virus

In 2020, the Caux Forum went online in response to the pandemic. Its organizers found that this made Caux accessible to people all over the world who could not have taken part in normal circumstances....

Marc Isserles 2017

2019: Marc Isserles – ‘We must save the children’

During World War II, the Caux Palace (later the Initiatives of Change conference centre in Switerland) provided a refuge for Jews fleeing the Shoah. Over the years, some of them – or their descendants...

Wael Broubaker climate actionist

2018: Wael Boubaker – ‘Climate change should be top top top priority’

When Tunisian economics graduate Wael Boubaker joined the Caux Peace and Leadership Programme (CPLP) in 2018, he expected a conference which would look good on his CV, and some beautiful scenery. Inst...

Tanaka Mhunduru CPLP

2017: Tanaka Mhunduru – A home for the world

Tanaka Mhunduru from Zimbabwe is one of the organizers of the Caux Peace and Leadership Programme (CPLP), a one-month programme for young people from around the world. He first took part in 2017....

Diana Damsa Winter Gathering 2016

2016: Diana Damsa – ‘It made me feel I counted’

The Winter Gathering of 2016 was a special experience for Diana Damsa – not just because she experienced Caux in winter, but also because, for the first time in eight years, she had no responsibilitie...

Philippe and Liseth Lasserre

2015: Lisbeth Lasserre – ‘The richness in art’

Lisbeth Lasserre came from Winterthur, where her grandparents, Hedy and Arthur Hahnloser, had built up a private collection of art at their home, Villa Flora. Amongst their artist friends were Bonnard...

Catherine Guisan

2014: Catherine Guisan – Europe’s Unfinished Business

Catherine Guisan is Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota, USA. She has written two books on the ethical foundations of European integration. In 2014 she spoke at Caux’s first se...

Tom Duncan

2013: Tom Duncan – Restoring a healthy planet

2013 saw the first full-length Caux Dialogues on Land and Security (CDLS). These events, which took place at the Caux Conference and Seminar Centre, focus on the links between sustainable land managem...

Merel Rumping

2012: Merel Rumping – Going out on a limb

When Merel Rumping from the Netherlands first visited Caux in 2012, she had a goal in mind – ‘to explore how I could contribute to a more just world through my professional activities’....

Lucette Schneider

2011: Lucette Schneider – Choices which make the magic of Caux

For many years, Lucette Schneider from Switzerland organized the team which gathered in the early mornings to wash, peel and chop vegetables for the kitchens of the Caux conference centre. ...

Mohan Bhagwandas 2003

2010: Mohan Bhagwandas – Addressing the crisis of integrity

Mohan Bhagwandas is all too aware of his carbon footprint. In the 13 years from 2006 to 2019, he flew 17 times from his home city of Melbourne, Australia, to Switzerland to take part in the Caux confe...

Rajmohan Gandhi 2011 Caux Forum Human Security

2009: Rajmohan Gandhi – Bridges between India and Pakistan

25 distinguished Indians and Pakistanis came to Caux in 2009 with the aim of building bridges between their countries. The man who initiated the gathering was Rajmohan Gandhi, a grandson of Mahatma Ga...

Iman Ajmal Masroor

2008: Learning to be a Peacemaker – ‘An eye-opener to the world’

2008 saw the launch of an unusual course on Islam’s approach to peacemaking for young Muslims and non-Muslims, devised by Imam Ajmal Masroor from the UK. The course’s coordinator, Peter Riddell, descr...