Ringön is there. One passes past Ringön while either entering into Hisingen or exiting out of Hisingen through the Göta Älv Bridge. But why would any go on to this tiny isle that is almost unappealing unless one is working in a factory or picking up stuff out a warehouse? There are some eateries such as Container Kitchen, Vego Bryggeri and Ringön Grillen but why would anyone in Gothenburg or visiting Gothenburg go to Ringön to eat there with uncertainty whether they are opened or not (and to keep checking the times on app)?
Ringön is changing and going to change at an unalterable speed. The person tasked for that change is Johan Larsson. He has the vision, and the experience of creating creative spaces, and told that it will be like one of the old historical centres of Copenhagen but with a touch of Gothenburg taste: unbridled creativity and civic duty.
Amanda Båmstedt wrote in the summer 2019 edition of TOTALLY GOTHENBURG: “The much-discussed industrial area on the outskirts of Hisingen is home to a lot of large warehourse spaces, which we have been filled with creative and artistic ventures. In the middle of all this is Ringön. Here in the harbour, there’s a good sense of togetherness, as well as forward-thinking people who show that culture and creativity don’t need to be in standardised forms.”
Johan Larsson aka the Redtop is one of Gothenburg’s top music promoters, and runs the club venue Pustervik. He is tasked with creating spaces and venues for music, arts and creativity in the isle of Gothenburg called Ringön. www.gothenburg-400.com spoke to him about Ringön and what he plans to do there. He understands the civic duty of living on an island: “If you live on an island you take care of yourself and your neighbours …” With that spirit, he has embarked on turning the disused area to a usable area. “It is actually to create new part of Gothenburg. To make a part of Gothenburg a little different in regard other areas in the town. Because … we don’t have the history, the knowledge but we think in a city as big as Gothenburg we need some part of Gothenburg that is little bit more tolerant and little bit more testing and we can’t test (an area) in the city centre but we can do that on Ringön.” He said, on Ringön everything and anything is possible, and the isle can be the spot to spend a day or a night or a weekend.
“We changed from a very big small city to a small very big city – to explain that we have lot of different centres in the last ten years in Gothenburg… now we got the feeling that it can be a big city and Ringön can be one of them, an alternative centre in Gothenburg,” said Johan Larsson. That Ringön will be the venue for music, or weekend get together, or party, or whatever.
Amanda Båmstedt mentions two things TO DO in Ringön: Check out: Kiosken and Kolgruvan.
Kiosken: “A black box that looks like a piece of lego, in Ringön’s old factory quarter, is it really something worth a tip? Yes. Kiosken on Ringön is an artistic experiment in an official environment, that explores subjects like functional art, the relationship between users and viewers and even the question all 90s-born kids ask themselves: ‘How is possible to live as an artist?”
Kolgruvan: “The old renovated chocolate factory on Ringön houses creative people operating in different genres. Here is where you’ll find entrepreneurs, startups, freelancers and all other kinds of creators. If you’re looking for some office space, it’s also perfectly possible to rent space at Kolgruvan, and if you’re in the party mood there’s a venue you can hire which can house every kind of event possible.”
And, check out: SALTET på Ringön
HOW TO GET TO RINGÖN: All the buses and trams that stop at Frihamnen, and Ringön is a minute’s walk from there.
Gothenburg is celebrating its 400th birth anniversary in 2021. The city is changing: explore! www.gothenburg-400.com identifies, a visit to Ringön is one of the 400 things to do.
