About

'Lonny the Enchanter' is one element of the art project by Sigrid Viir (EE) and Līga Spunde (LV), which is part of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 main programme project 'ArCo3 – Artists in Collections, Communities and Collectives' (see the annex here). The idea for the game came to the artists in the summer of 2023 during a residency on the riverboat 'Lonny' in Taevaskoja, during which they stumbled upon various legends. They saw with their own eyes and heard with their own ears how a legend survives and endures, how its shape changes, and pondered: who decides what is fiction and what is reality? Storytelling is a simple activity, but it can have life-changing effects. So why not try creating new local folklore together!

'Lonny the Enchanter' is based on the game 'Who Is Doing What Where?', which is equally popular in Latvia and Estonia. It is traditionally played by a participant giving single word answers to the 'who is doing what where?' question and folding up their answer before passing the paper to the next player. This time, however, the artists have developed the game into a virtual one, linking it to the characters, events and places of Taevaskoja.

Texts: Sigrid Viir, Līga Spunde, Maarin Ektermann

Design and visuals: Sigrid Viir, Līga Spunde

Translations: Peeter Talvistu, Maarin Ektermann, Richard Adang

Programming: Mary-Ann Talvistu