The association is named after Villa Kolkis, the home, since 1965, of Christine and Göran Schildt in the island of Leros, which during the years has developed into a venue and meeting place for seminars, cultural travel and various contacts between e.g. schools and other institutions.
The Friends of Villa Kolkis is taking over and continuing activities developed over the years by the Christine and Göran Schildt Foundation, which, from now on, will focus on the maintenance of the Villa Skeppet in the town of Raseborg (Ekenäs). This landmark villa, designed by the architect Alvar Aalto, will, after a restoration program currently underway, be opened to the general public in 2020. Maintaining and developing the contacts between Finland and Greece, in particular the Dodecanese islands, will be a top priority for the Friends of Villa Kolkis.
Ten years of grass-root cooperation
After the passing of Göran Schildt in 2009, Christine looked for new ways to maintain and even strengthen the ties between Finland and her beloved home island. Various cooperation between schools in Raseborg and at Leros was initiated.
Two teachers, Camilla and Magnus Lindberg, wrote «Ankarplats Leros», a book about Leros and the Schildt couple’s life there. The book was published in 2010. That same year the local newspaper Västra Nyland in Ekenäs organized a study trip to Leros. The trip was a success, inspiring The Christine and Göran Schildt Foundation to new forms of activities – cultural tours and an annual regatta each September.
The cultural and educational association Artemis of Leros performed in Raseborg for the first time in July 2010. In the same year, the first Göran Schildt Memorial Regatta was organised in cooperation with Alexis Charalampides and The Leros Nautical Club. Artemis and its chairman Antonis Dallaris have, from the very beginning, been core partners in the cultural events.
The Christine and Göran Schildts Foundation participated in the project Living Culture (LevKul) in 2010–2011, with the aim of raising awareness of the legacy of Göran Schildt. The results of the effort were published in 2011, in a book in swedish and greek.
Teachers of primary and high schools in Agia Marina (Leros) and Ekenäs (Raseborg) initiated their first cooperation in 2011, the Comenius project “Daphne”. Their students compared Finnish and Greek cooking traditions and published a book with 10 recipes in greek, swedish and english.
Magnus Lindberg, who was employed by The Christine and Göran Schildts Foundation in 2011, has been coordinating the cultural tours with Friman Resor, a local travel agency. Helsingfors Arbis, an adult education centre based in Helsinki, arranged a combined art/photography/writing trip to Leros in 2013. An Orthodox Easter tradition trip was combined with a writing programme and became the starting point for the creative writing workshops led by author Monika Fagerholm. These writing tours and workshops, which have become very popular, have been arranged regularly since then. Three photography workshops have been organized by Magnus Lindberg, who is also an accomplished photographer.
Themed culinary workshops at Leros have been on the programme since 2014. The first two were organized at restaurant Milos by Mårten Johansson, in collaboration with Marios and Yorgos Koutsounaris. Subsequently, two culinary trips have been organized by Magnus Lindberg in cooperation with the association Aegean Cuisine.
The celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Göran Schildt brought renewed interest in Leros. In the period 2017–2018, three guided hiking tours along with two essay-writing workshops under the direction of author Merete Mazzarella were organised on the island.
Several Finnish artists have performed at Leros at various events, particularly during the regatta. Among others the dancing group Hullu Piruetti, several musicians and choir members from the Raseborg Music Institute, the duo Thomas Lundin & Thomas Enroth, as well as Benny Törnroos and Simon Strömsund, who introduced the Moomin at Leros in 2016. In 2011, the director Åsa Salvesen staged the play “Till Fedra” (“To Phaedra”), a Greek-style tragedy (based on the Euripidian tragedy “Hippolytos” from 428 BCE) by the Swedish playwright Per Olov Enquist at Leros – in the original swedish.
