vernissage - perspektiv europa

Today was the day of the much anticipated photo exhibition Viewpoint Europe (Perspektiv Europa).

And here are a few glimpses of it before we opened up to visitors.

And these are my positive as well as negative experiences from it:

+ The arranging and setting up with a friend I've never worked with before was really effortless, effective and reliable with great communication, our areas of responsabilities easy to define (basically we did the things we're good at and didn't step om eachothers toes. Well, except for me making comments about chips as unhealthy snacks and nearly starting a Chips-gate then...). 

+ The set up and ambiance of the venue (a photo studio) lovely. My friend's father's help with hanging the frames invaluable, it would have taken at least double the time had he not been there.

+ Really happy with the visitors that did turn up, including my childhood bestie which I hadn't met for nearly 20 years actually. And all the nice chats we had.

+ The food truck got the perfect spot to park at just outside our entrance. And she sold out well before our vernissage closed.

- The gazillion people invited that couldn't be bothered to either not replying to the invite at all or accepting saying they'd come but then not have the decency to get in touch explaining they couldn't make it. Seriously, why do so many people have such bad social manners?

- Surprised and disappointed really, that the amount of visitors wasn't nearly as many as expected. We'd done marketing seemingly everywhere, both personal invites, on websites and in relevant social channels etc. 

- I suspect Sunday would've been a better day than a Saturday for it. I also think that for the exhibition to have a proper impact you need to have it up for 2-4 weeks at least. One day like this is just too limiting.

Would I do it again? Quite possibly. But not in the same way or at the same venue (despite all its pros for photographic art). Loved the experience though. And it's such a great feeling to see your photos come to life in prints and frames and not only as a flat image on a screen.

And if there was a prize for the most glammy of vernissage visitors, our friend Sarah would most likely have won it.

tulips galore

Tomorrow I'll take this gorgeous bunch of tulips to our vernissage. To bring some extra colour and snazziness to the venue. 

It felt quite luxurious to buy so many tulips at once. To keep that luxuary feel I wish I had a vase big enough to harbour them all after the exhibition and not only smaller ones.

Friendly snoopervision by Sigrid - who probably wish she could nibble them all.

let the framing begin!

The work with next week's fabulastic photo exhibition is well in progress. Today I returned the first frames I got last week as it turned out I had gotten the idea of framing without passe-partouts all wrong. I'm so relieved I realised the amateur mistake reasonably early on (yes, you can stop laughing now). And I'm even more pleased with how gorgeous the photos look with passe-partouts and simple black frames!

I bought most of the frames I need today too, since I'll need larger frames than I first had counted with I may have to scale down the number of photos for the exhibition though. So I'll begin with these frames and possibly buy more next week.

I've also realised how expensive frames are. Not to mention the passe-partouts that needed special cutting. I would have been better off simply ordering new copies in another size. But I also love how much I'm learning by all the little mistakes. Practice makes perfect.

And who knew it was the framing that would be so tricky and time-consuming, not all the other little bits?

I'm also really happy to announce that as things look now we will be joined by one of Stockholm's best foodtrucks for a few hours! The truck serves organic and vegan food and hopefully the collaboration will have a great synergy effect on both of our businesses - more visitors for us and more guests for her.

vernissage - viewpoint europe

Tomorrow I'll pick up what'll hopefully be that last version of the photos for the exhibition. 

But today already I give you the official invitation to spend som time with us on March 19, 2016 in Stockholm. The vernissage of Viewpoint Europe will be between 2 and 6 pm - hope to see you there!

photo exhibition update

Today I picked up a sample of photos for the very special photo exhibition in Stockholm we're doing on March 19. I loved how well some of them turned out! Some I won't go with, while others I'll change the size on. Hopefully I'll have them all chosen and ready to be framed next week.

It's only a month now until the exhibition takes place, the weeks swoosh by so fast and it feels good to be reasonably on top of things.

Watch this space for the invite to come!

roundabout bluebells and other artsy matters

A supersized button and a cat trio on a bench. Delightful and inspirational diy in Krakow.

Yarnbombing is always the right thing (yarn shop, Enköping, Sweden).

Pretty fabulous roundabout bluebells (Katrineholm, Sweden).

Cute shoe painting trio (Säfstaholm castle, Vingåker, Sweden).

Friends, rabbit and fox sculptures (Djur/Animals exhibition, Säfstaholm castle, Sweden).

French bulldog meet cute shoe per diem (Djur/Animals exhibition, Säfstaholm castle, Vingåker, Sweden).

Have a happy, artsy, creativity flowing weekend one and all ~

burning beauty

spent a day at fotografiska (photografical) museum looking at the large (spread over three storeys) photo exhibition 'burning beauty' by david lachapelle. thoughtprovoking, awesome, provoking, more provoking and then some, colourful, impressive and quite a bit disheartening due to the ways of the world and mankind cleverly and disturbingly depicted.



bobbaloos, as the gentle souls they are, only got to see the photo bits that were deemed (by undersigned) bobbaloo-safe.

the exhibit didn't move me to tears of despair like the nick brandt one the other year, of course, but still, lots of thoughts and impressions to process. which is always a good thing.

exhibition ends march 3, in case you're in stockholm and haven't been yet.

nick brandt at fotografiska

Nick Brandt have been one of my favourite photographers for some years now. The soulful beauty and sorrow his animal pictures exudes is simply stunning and mindblowing. Today we visited the Fotografiska (Photographical) museum to see his exhibition "On This Earth, A Shadow Falls". I wept my way around the room, I weep writing this.

For all the innocent life the egoistic mankind in complete lack of compassion so willingly extinguish. There's just something so completely and utterly wrong with a too large part of the human race. For that I weep.

Part of the exhibition was also a fine little filmed interview with Nick Brandt, where he talked about his work, the African animals, the human overexploitation and poaching. In 2010 he founded the Big Life Foundation dedicated to the preservation of African wildlife and ecosystems. You can donate money, buy prints and there's also a gorgeous signed photo book (I would love to get for Christmas) to support this more than worthy cause.

The exhibition "On This Earth, A Shadow Falls" with overpowering photos by Nick Brandt is on at Fotografiska - a wonderful museum with a lovely café on the top floor, with a stunning water view over Stockholm, and a nice gift shop, very much worth a visit when in Stockholm - from October 6 to January 8, 2012. Go see. Bring tissues. And donate.

big yellow rabbit

The city of Örebro - about 1,5 hours drive west of Stockholm - has during three years held a summer art exhibition called Örebro Open Art. Over a few months the art project, with some 50 artists from around the  world participating, has changed the face of the cityscape.

Apparently it has not been enjoyed by everyone and some citizens have seen it fit to vandalize and remove some of the open air art pieces. Yes, some pieces are definitely more enjoyable than others, but tastes differ and to destroy people's work like that, not being able to see the deeper meaning of some of the pieces that may not be obvious to the eye, such behaviour is simply despicable, narrowminded and nasty. It makes me sick. Instead of perhaps learn something from the art, displayed during three months only, grasp other realities, see a deeper truth, let's destroy. Ain't that just typical human behaviour.

The pieces will be dismantled on September 11, so this weekend was the last chance to see the exhibition. The piece de resistance being a huge yello bunny seemingly dropped by a giant child smack in the middle of the grand town square - oh I've been wanting to see its fabulasticness irl all summer, since I first caught a glimpse of it on Instagram.

Unfortunately it was a market day on Saturday, market stalls and lots of people around, it was sadly impossible to get those smooth performance photos I had dreamed of. But at least you get an idea of the bunny's size and location. I think it's absolutely precious, awesome, funny -

the strategic placement with the church and the statue of Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson, the Swedish rebel and statesman from the 15th century said to been part of the first Swedish parliament in 1435, inspecting the bunny's behind, it makes us question how we perceive a city -

and overall completely and utterly wonderful. The artist behind the bunny is a Dutch fellow named Florentijn Hofman, he certainly get all my thumbs up for creating this piece! (Needless to say the bunny project get a BIG bobbaloo stamp of approval too.)

At the end of the exhibition the bunny was for sale (for 500 000 sek), had I lived differently, had I been rich in money, I wouldn't have minded having it in my yard, I wouldn't have minded at all... I hope it gets a good and loving home, perhaps being reunited with the giant child who dropped it in the town square, and enjoyed over many years to come.

I think we all need more oversized bunnies (yellow or not) dropped into our lives to be happier and kinder beings.

building a home - art exhibition

The course in strategic communication I attended in April got me connected to the information manager at Husby Konsthall (art gallery). When exchanging business cards (thank you MOO) he spotted my crafts and invited me to be part of an upcoming art exhibition. Art and crafts on fabric that would then cover a Somalian hut (Somalians playing a big role in that immigrant-dense suburb).

Time passed and I thought that maybe it was simply another fizzle out-thing. Turned out it wasn't and a few weeks ago I was sent a huge piece of linen fabric, not the average piece of paper size I'd imagined. Not the best of sore-hand-times to fill such a large piece with my interpretation of the theme "Building a home"... But I did (with the help of a kind mother that did parts of the attach pieces to fabric), and I thought a lot about it, and my interpretation has changed along the way, not much, but in the details. It was quite a lot of work, I'm reasonably pleased with end result - and it has gotten me to think more about doing embroidery again - had hand not been sore, had I had more time to rummage through by thoughts and my crafty materials stash I would have done more. And different. But this is okey.

I've wanted to use MOO-cards on fabric ever since I saw Lost Star making this creative piece on Flickr - this seemed like the perfect opportunity. So I did.

Granted it is a cute, perky, colourful, no worries piece (the Idyllic Sweden That Was), since my growing up, my influences for building a home, having a home is rather idyllic. Even if I worry, even if things are crap, even if I grump, compared to wars, persecutions, upheavals my life, my home has been overall idyllic, sweet, colourful and inspirational. So I went with that, and wove in glimpses of my family, background, life, sources of inspiration, then and now, what has shaped me, in my personal life and in the big scheme of matters.

Finally handed in my piece today, I only got to see two other pieces of the hut-to-be. Very, very different from mine, and from each other, both cool in their own way. Fascinating how differently we interpret things, a home. Only showing the small piece above now. Perhaps more to come later.

~ If you happen to be in Stockholm between July 2 - 13, 2011 you can see the whole Building a home - exhibition at Husby Konsthall. It opens on Saturday, July 2, (noon until 8 pm) with food and festivities. ~ 

busy days

Two things that will keep me crazy busy (at least it feels like that at the moment) until next Wednesday which is due date for both things.

A) The fine tuning of a final report. Which turned out to be so much more work than anticipated, I learnt only yesterday. I would still grump about the tiresome lack of forward planning and information deficit was I paid a reasonable salary for it. Now I grump about it as a whole. The thing I write about is a disheartening part of the Swedish welfare system gone awry, so the actual subject is very interesting on many levels. But in this shape and form, annoying and heartbreaking only. I will be relieved when it's finished.

On the plus side, I can work from home. I get a lot more done that way. Despite those eager little furball helpers spreading themselves over everything everywhere.

B) Just a li'l glimpse of what will hopefully be a presentable piece of textile art. Also due next Wednesday. Turned out the piece of fabric I got was way larger than anticipated, thus it will take more work to finish. With my sore hand/thumb that feels less a joy than it normally would. But it also leaves room for creativity. Plus the artsy fartsy explanations I've come up for my interpretations of the theme, they amuse me.

I am tad stressed about this - especially since it's the long Midsummer weekend and one is supposed to relax and not work... - but in a way it feels good to work with to so very different things side by side. One to fuel the leftside of the brain, one for the rightside. I'm sure it will feel very satisfying when it's finished. And, hey, in a couple of weeks, vacation mode only for four glorious summer weeks...

the terracotta army

The week before Christmas - on one of those rare winter-days with sun which made the freezing, wintry streets of Stockholm look absolutely enchanting - we finally made our way to this round of the Terracotta Army exhibition. Last time it was on display in Stockholm was in 1984. I remembered we queued for hours on a bitterly cold winter day back then, me and a friend. The weather much like now, but no queueing this time (and I would not have been that patient now). For some reason I seem to recall it was worth the wait and the money then, that it was indeed an impressive exhibition.

This time I was utterly disappointed. About 10 clay soldiers in glass boxes, a few small horses and some smaller sculptures. Not at all what I had expected – had I read more about the exhibition beforehand I would probably had realized it would be far from the world heritage grandeur I had thought of. So silly me for that – and for quite a hefty entrance fee (~22 usd).

And as impressive as the work and craftsmanship itself is, it also oozes monumental madness, tragedy, waste and sadness. Only humans use and abuse others to create something as ridiculous and crazy. All that went through my mind while we strolled the exhibition, me trying to get some reasonable photos in bad light while feeling it was rather a waste of time and money...

There’s a replica exhibition at the China center (not without its controversy) center called Dragon Gate some few hours drive north of Stockholm, where the display seems to be much more of impressive-clay-army-like. Which quite possible would make one even more sad than these few clay fellas did, thinking of all the madness and waste with human history repeating itself in different ways still...

What made me most happy that day (apart from the glorious winter weather) was the finding of my two kitsch generals. Hadn't I gone to the exhibition I'd never have found them. They are most amusing. Kind of silent. But sort of dashing. Perky and colourful. All hearts and mild manners. Non bellicose. Tad golden. Keeping a watchful eye over matters. Ideal.

my stockholm

I've just donated one of my Stockholm photos to the "Mitt Stockholm" (My Stockholm) exhibition at Galleri Kontrast. (No, not the above photo, far from really.)

There is still some space left for your personal glimpse of Stockholm to be one of the all in all 500 photos (one only for each photographer) exhibited until January 24th, 2010.

The motifs vary alot, as do the quality, from absolutely stunning to... not so.

All photos are framed and for sale (300 sek), the surplus going to Doctors Without Borders.

Galleri Kontrast,
Hornsgatan 8,
Stockholm
read more in Swedish

the doors

Another installation belonging to the ongoing (until Oct 3) outdoor art exhibition at Rosendal's Garden here in Stockholm. Quirky, weird, wistful, witty and quite wonderful unpretentious, these worn doors with different signs do make a statement. And make you contemplate life and death. Some door samples ~

: I'll go out in the sun again :

: I'm a little willow sparrow :

: I can be my own priest :

: I have my own cemetery :

: I rest here between 12-13 :

: I smile inside :