107 heads

One mysterious head is watching the fjord. Another one is looking at a mountain peak. One head is guarding a dam, one is keeping an eye on an old farm. Other heads are gazing at the passersby in the town, others are admiring the beauty of the countryside. There are 107 of them - all hidden. Although each of these heads are different, they are all made of iron, and are truly small - a little bit bigger than an almond. They are placed in and around Flekkefjord, a charming coastal town, and everybody in and around the town is excitedly searching for them.

Sculptor Christian Sunde started to make and then hide small heads years ago, and using Instagram invited his audience to find them. These heads can be found all around Norway, even abroad. He has been sculpting heads for quite a long time: and in the past, he made monumental heads for public places. The heads, with their simple but powerful shape and beautifully internal illumination, gently attract attention in our easily distracted world. But with his small iron creatures he had a different aim. He placed some heads in familiar places to give them new focus, or to make people discover these places again. He also chose other, not that well-known locations, inspiring everybody, from young to old, for an adventure, to find new places, new connections. But the heads are not just connecting and bonding people with their environment - they also bring art, with its deep, peculiar meaning, much closer to them. Before he molds the heads, first he models them in plasticine with small sticks and spatulas through a meticulous and demanding process. The final part of the process is looking for the best location. Christian usually goes for trips with many different heads in his pocket so he can choose on the spot which heads would be the best fit for the special environment.

Recently his hometown, Flekkefjord, asked him for a collaboration. The municipality was looking for an art project which could be unifying for people, but also can stand as a memory of the very special year of 2020. There are exactly 107 small iron heads placed in and around Flekkefjord, which is exactly the number of babies born in the town during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The iron symbolizes strength - but it also rusts, showing that time passes. Finding the hidden heads, the joyful people can also be hopeful, a reminder that bad times will pass, and will be followed by good ones.

he also chose others, not that well-known locations, inspiring everybody, from young to old, for an adventure, to find new places, new connections

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The old trolley track at Jøssingfjord.

photo by Bjørn André Hagen

Sheeps taking care of nature in Magma UNESCO Global Geopark.

photo by Eva Pettersen Andreassen

At Vinjakula looking over the gneissic landscape with a view to impressive mountains and steep valleys.

photo by Åse Hestnes

Climbing on Trollpikken a post glacier phenomenon. The bedrock here is the magmatic rock Anorthosite that you only find in a few places on Earth and on the surface of the Moon.

photo by Anna Omdal

GERMANYGeo-Naturepark Bergstraße-Odenwald (UNESCO Global Geopark) Our second stop is Geo-Naturepark in southwest Germany, a relatively large area covering 105 municipalities. The Geo-Naturepark’s motto: “Between granite and sandstone – continents on the move” recalls the time more than 300 million years ago when two supercontinents collided forming plutonic rocks, as well as other geological times when sandstones and mudstones were deposited in rivers and lakes. 500 million years of fascinating geology has created a diverse landscape, from agricultural land to deep forests, crowned with a rich cultural history. As the territory is situated between two main regions, it plays an important role as a recreational area and can be easily reached by millions of people. The Geo-Naturepark offers educational programmes, field trips and outdoor school activities enjoying the help of their 25 rangers and nearly 200 on-site guides. Following a holistic approach, the GeoNaturepark encourages getting into contact with nature through hands-on activities and helps people to experience the healing power of forest, meadow and water through outdoor activities.

The prune of Lützelsachsen