The museum towers among the trees, but you don't realise what it is until you get really close. The large building blends organically into the beautiful archipelago nature. We are out on Värmdö, which is only about 20 minutes from the city centre, and despite this, there is an immediate feeling of peace and quiet.
I was probably a bit overwhelmed by the impressive architecture, as I hardly took any pictures of the outside. However, you can see it from every conceivable angle on their website or via Google as many have documented their visit in a more detailed way... 😉
Around the museum runs a short but beautiful walking trail or as they call it, a sculpture park. Along the loop there are about fifteen sculptures, of which perhaps the "egg" at the far end of the cape is most famous. There is also a small marina if you take the boat here.
The inside is almost more impressive. Traditional Swedish natural materials have largely been used, but combined with untreated concrete and other materials. At the same time, the colours and light of the surrounding nature are allowed in. This makes the building a natural part of the site rather than an intrusion.
Based on my description, you may get the feeling that it is a tiny art centre, but in fact it is unexpectedly large. There is a café, restaurant, roof terrace, outdoor seating, shop, three exhibition halls and various smaller rooms where you can hold workshops. In fact, all in all, the building is more than 10000 m2.
Something that stood out a bit in the store was that among all the art-related goods, they also exhibited BabyBjörn. We didn't really realise the connection until we read that the founder of Artipelag is Björn Jacobsson, the creator and owner of BabyBjörn. He wanted to give something back after a lifetime in the archipelago and we have to say that it was a decent contribution. Here can watch a film about his vision.
They don't have fixed exhibitions, but the programme varies from time to time. In other words, you have to go to their website to see what they are showing right now and what they are planning for the future. Right now it is Lars Wallin and his "35 years of fashion stories" that apply. When we were there, this was the only exhibition, but there was a flurry of activity for the opening of "The Mountain Room: Annika Liljedahl".
Back to the main event, Lars Wallin and his many years of work. I must honestly admit that I am not super interested in clothing design but what an incredibly impressive exhibition it was anyway. Not only to see the amount of dresses he created during his career but also how he managed to stay current by constantly evolving as a designer.
It was somewhat unclear how many dresses there were but certainly close to a hundred and almost all have been worn by some famous person. I understand that this is only a selection, so in fact there are many more in his portfolio.
Being the blue person that I am, I tried to create a top five favourites but it was difficult as the styles were so different. However, I would say that the pink one next to it was one of the ones that stood out the most.
All in all, I can say that I recommend everyone a visit regardless of whether you are interested in art or not as the whole experience, both of Artipelag and the exhibition, was incredibly cool.
