Bridging Ages International Conference 2016 in Kalmar, Sweden
240 delegates from 20 countries in Europe, America, Africa and Asia. gathered for three days in a warm and sunny Kalmar, making it the biggest Bridging Ages ever.
There were more than 70 presentations, several workshops, evening programs and of course a fascinating Time Travel event to 1945. The Deputy Minister of South Africa, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi, opened the conference together with the Swedish Minister of Culture and Democracy, Alice Bah Kuhnke (video).
Key Note Speakers were Dr Andrew Wingate, Anglican Priest, UK; Dr Mzalendo Kibunjia, Director General National Museums of Kenya and Professor Paloma Gonzales, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain. Several sessions were connected to projects, for example Health and Culture, Innovative Archaeology, Meeting places for issues of Life and Faith, Sites and Stories two, Mathematics in the Historic Environment. At the conference Kalmar läns museum, Sweden and Freedom Park (Department of Arts and Culture), South Africa signed an agreement on a joint three-year plan “Social Cohesion and Community Building through the Time Travel method”.
The Time Travel event was focused on our responsibility to take care of refugees and integration. It was held outside a former epidemic hospital on the island of Lindö in Kalmar, where lots of refugees were received in June 1945, both former concentration camp prisoners and deserted soldiers. The discussions and engagement were strong and vivid. It was a magical Time Travel event on an important topic of today. The conference was organized by Kalmar county museum, Linnaeus University, Regional Council of Kalmar County, Church of Sweden and Bridging Ages.
