“The Miracle On The American Line is one of the many incidents that were lost in the recording of our local histoory. It is a story about the city of Gothenburg, about it’s harbour and about the golden days of the Swedish American line. But more than anything else, it’s a story about those Gothenburg heroes, who, in an impressive demonstration of tolerance and integrity, on a memorable day in 1966, put there own security at stake in solidarity with society’s discriminated groups.”
So begins the introduction to this guided tour with the ferryboat “Älvsnabben” through the Gothenburg harbour. Against a background which is a mix of fiction and historical fact, this arrangement aims to discuss the conception of “the stranger” –today and in a historical perspective– in this seaport constituting the Swedish gateway to the rest of the world.
The narrative here is spun around the history of the Gothenburg-founded shipping company The Swedish American Line, which between 1914 and 1975 provided line traffic between Gothenburg and New York, and played a crucial role in Swedish international relations, placing Gothenburg on the world map in the process.
The project was hosted by Gallery Box in Gothenburg, which, along with the Gothenburg Tourist Office, provided information and background about the tour. A soundtrack –in Swedish or English– could be downloaded from the internet and played back on an mp3-player or Discman during the 30-minute boat-trip between the dock of Klippan to the dock of Lilla Bommen in Gothenburg – a permanent part of the Gothenburg public transportation system.
Listen to the English version
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Listen to the Swedish version
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Mp3 download links
English Version
Svensk Version