Dispatches from Sweden

Contributor post by Camilla Engman

This trip is taking you to Karlskrona in Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. I will hang my exhibition and attend the show opening at Karlskrona Konsthall (arthall). It is a cold day with the sun trying to shine through the clouds. I was supposed to go by train but the train is set so there is a bus taking us to our destinations instead.

 

The bus driver could only drive four hours at a time, so after a while he takes a break and hands out sandwiches to all of us, and takes his break with us back in the bus. He lives in Karlskrona and promises to go to my exhibition.

I have great help to hang the exhibition by the gallery technicians. Half of my paintings are already in the gallery and the rest will turn up the next day, straight from my exhibition in Östersund. It is a little bit nervous before you know if everything really gets there on time. It turns out the paintings are stuck somewhere on their way, but close. The janitor, where the paintings are, offers himself to bring them to us. Happy ending :)

See the paintings here.  And a few more pictures from the arthall.


Next day after hanging it all I get time to look at the surroundings. It is a very cold day so I can't go so far. Maybe I should try to exhibit in the warm part of the year.

I walk around randomly on the streets. It is a very pretty town. Apparently the Naval Port of Karlskrona is now on the UNESCO World Heritage List The main square of Karlskrona is the biggest in Scandinavia, and actually the second biggest in Europe, after the Red Square of Moscow. I visit the Fredrik Church, the foundation of the church was laid in 1720, and it was inaugurated in 1744. It differs from usual Swedish churches in its yellow color and its adornment.

 
It seems like there is alot of "old fashioned" cafées in Karlskrona = they serve you by the table, they only have filter coffee, you get a refill and the cookies are small. I prefer a cafe latte, but I like these cafées very much.

 
Since I am going back home right after the opening, we do the celebration part the day before. They take me out for dinner and then a concert.

For obvious reasons I can't stay out late :) The opening goes well. They had a small contest before the show, people were asked to look at three of my paintings and write something, a story about one of them. We had so much fun reading them. Three of the contributions were selected and they got a small prize and read their own stories during the opening. I had tears in my eyes, they looked so proud.

A quick stop at the hot dog stand, for mashed potatoes and falafel, and then back to Gothenburg.

Dispatches from Sweden by Camilla Engman

Contributor post by Camilla Engman.

This trip is taking me to Östersund, a city in the middle of Sweden with a population of 58,000. The only city in the county of Jämtland. It was founded 1786.

I am going there because I have an exhibition to hang at a gallery in the city, Galleri Remi.

I am going by train from Gothenburg, where I live, to Östersund it takes a while so I took the night train. I boarded the train at 7 in the evening and left it at 6 in the morning. They even had a small cinema at train. Maybe it is because of all the films I've seen taking place in sleeping compartments, but I really like the feeling.

Gun Brännström, the owner of the gallery met me at the train station and took me to the gallery. I've sent my paintings a week before, to be sure they are there when I arrive. There are too many and too big for me to bring them myself. Gun has already unpacked them. She is a very nice woman, she loves art and she talks a lot :) The hanging of the exhibition goes fairly smooth and after the press has paid us a visit I have time left over for touristing. I asked people what they think I should see when in Östersund and almost everyone says that I have to go to the museum Jamtli. So that is where I headed.

Jamtli has permanent exhibitions about the region’s past and temporary exhibitions from today. In summer time they have an open air museum.

Spring in the Sami country. A old Sami Joik and a more modern one. Erika Larsen has taken wonderful photos at the some Sami people.

The Överhogdal Tapestries are the crown jewels of Jamtli’s collections. They were found in a shed by the church in Överhogdal in Härjedalen in 1910. First believed to date from the middle ages, C14 test conducted in 1991 proved the different parts of the tapestries to date from between 800 and 1100 AD. This means that they were made during the Viking era.

There is a lot to do in Östersund outdoors, like skiing in wintertime. But when I am there it is getting dark already around 2 o'clock in the afternoon. So after visiting Jamtli and walking around for a while in the town I spend the evening in my hotel room, which is nice since I've been working so much lately. I guess if you live at hotels often it is very boring, but since I don't I like it a lot. Even to watch tv feels different and being away from home makes me think in new ways, just a little bit but even so it makes me happy. I am here working but it feels like vacation.

The next day is opening day. I have time for a walk before it all happens. I take a walk down by the lake, Storsjön /the Great lake, the story says there is a monster living in it... It is a milky grey day, I feel good.

The opening goes well, all the people are so friendly and interested. The gallery closes and I'm tired and hungry. A short rest at the hotel and then home to Gun, the gallery owner, for dinner with her husband and their artist friends Annika and Björn. I don't think I need to say it was a lovely evening.

The morning after I had a cup of coffee and a pastry at Törners Konditori before I headed to the
airport, for a flight to Stockholm to meet with Karin in her new shop Manos, but that's another story.