Artipelag

The strange thing about the Swedish calendar is that we tend to assume that summer is over once we've reach mid-August, which corresponds to the time we go back to work and schools are about to start again. But there are still a lot of tourists around the city, as most Europeans tend to take their summer vacation in August...So today we joined the summery and touristic spirit - instead of going "back-to-school-shopping"..., got up early, jumped on a boat to Värmdö, where a new art-centre opened its doors last June.

This new place is funded and designed by the creator of the famous "Baby Björn", the so-practical baby-carrier invented in the 1970s in order to allow parents to carry their infant kangaroo-style, leaving them hands-free and not-so-back-ache-prone. A great product, indeed, which has made his inventor rich and famous and able to devote his capital to contemporary art...Lucky man, hey!

The location of this building is beautiful, impressive, very "archipelag-esque", hence the name Artipelag: deposited at the top of a huge klippa (rock in Swedish), hidden behind pine-trees and overlooking the sea. Idyllic setting, really. A lot of blueberry bushes around, tons of mushrooms right now too, splendid. The building is interesting too, just as the art exhibited: a mix of traditional and contemporary in the  materials and shapes chosen, a lot of wood,  fairly soft concrete-effects, many many openings and views onto the sea, the forest and the surrounding mini-cliffs. Sculptures, installations, paintings, a good variety of works which satisfied and intrigued our troops, without reaching overloading.

If Artipelag continues to attract throughout the year as many visitors as it did this weekend, it should definitely become a successful initiative...I wish it the best of luck and am curious to go back in other seasons!