Art review: the Light flowing again in Stockholm renovated city museum

Kind in kind återinvigs several of Stockholm's central museums, after many years of closure for renovation and restructuring. In the fall, was the national museum, this vårhelg the city Museum, and in the beginning of the summer, opens Livrustkammarens redeveloped permanent exhibition and Jewish museum inaugurates the brand new premises in the Old town.

For the Stockholm city museum, the biggest change is a greatly expanded audience area, from 1.750 to 2.700 square meters, including the previously missing rooms for temporary exhibitions. Some sixty offices have been moved over to the Freeport, where museimagasinen are, at the same time as the windows, the galleries and the stairwells were opened up.

Now, the flowing light into the again in the master architect Tessins stately 1600-century building, siktlinjerna are free and in touch with the bustling city life restored. When the rebuilding of Slussen is completed, the museum's upper floor to get a spectacular view of the Stream!

in the week, I felt again much of the thinking from the renovation of the national museum. The old museums have often been distorted through the centuries with nedpendlade suspended ceilings, påbyggda floors, walls and pre-built window. This is to protect against harmful light radiation and win the unbroken wall space, in accordance with the long-prevalent ideal of the ”white cube”. Modernisternas contempt towards the older styles and (miss)use of short-lived building materials, has not made things better.

In Stadsmuseets newly printed brochure told about ”an extensive but careful renovation” of the so-called South of the town hall from 1680, built like a roman palace, with four floors and two wings. It is a listed building since two decades and byggnadsantikvariska into account a must. Similarly, a technical upgrading to meet newer regulatory requirements in terms of accessibility, fire, ventilation and climate, in parallel with measures to reduce energy consumption.

Stadsmuseets courtyard, with Katja Pettersson's nygestaltade rock placement. Photo: Mattias Ek

the Facade has received new plaster and broken bricks, damaged window sashes and frames replaced, while the roof with originalplåt from the 1700s, has been cleaned and painted. In the old city Museum hung bunches of electrical cables loosely in the ceiling (!), now is the wiring hidden under the floor, just like at the national museum.

in particular, to the declaration that the original high class has been guiding and finishes in the form of new materials that latexfog and handspackel ”actively selected, removed and replaced”, among other things, with oljespackel and linseed oil.

first of all, the audience learns to see is the light grey, doors facade and gårdsplanets new design. Artist Katja Pettersson have been inspired by the proximity to the lake, and the paving stones are said to resemble ”a rough pixlad watermark”.

I had hard to see the ”mirroring”, because the visualization in different shades of grey is so understated. But the experience grows once you discover the pattern – a nice idea, nicely implemented, and with respect for the Tessin building.

Tessins beautiful staircase. Photo: Allis Nettréus

The most obvious of the codend and for me the greatest joyful celebration, it is wonderful, beautiful, central staircase! This was concealed vaults and balusterräcken of the heavy curtains, now you can see through all the openings and windows, which makes it easier to orient themselves in the house, via the interconnecting gallerigångar.

the others, the S:t Erik, from the coat of arms, which resurfaced in the film and gives the audience a brief introduction. Museum has responsibility for Stockholm's earliest history, while the Museum begins its story in 1527, with the ”King's city” at the time of the reformation and continues to the present-day ”City in the world”.

View from the Brunnsbacken, today Hornsgatans estuary. Painting by Johan Sevenbom from the 1700s, now in the city Museum, whose one wing is visible in the right edge of the screen. Photo: the Stockholm city museum

the Presentation is divided in three levels and the story has been of three set designers, with strikes in a chronological string of 31 rooms. It sounds a lot and it is – but in the new main exhibition will 500 years of the life and times squeeze into.

Säsongsarbetande dalkullor at Münchenbryggeriet Photo: Birgitta Rubin

Even if some objects and stories recognised, so dumps I that the majority are experiencing the fresh ”Work” as a total makeover. This created a new context and perspective, here emerges in the past, where community groups and taboo subjects as homosexuality, the slave trade and the spread of infection – a group of latrintunnor is extremely graphic, with rare, life-like bajskorvar...

True-to-life bajstunnor Photo: Birgitta Rubin

wars and witch trials, labour migration and shortage of housing, hungry children, and välgörenhetsinitiativet Mjölkdroppen, as well as the town's first pizzeria, yet existing Pino in Midsommarkransen. It is a story about how a small, dirty place in Europe's periphery is growing into a big city with nightlife, malls, metro and förortsexpansion.

the Refinement was not completed at the press showing and it was missing both verksskyltar as wall quotes, which of course affects the overall impression. Myself, I got the pdf with the texts, which are scarce but overall solid. However, I reacted to the wording on the Citysaneringen, where it is called ”obsolete and dilapidated buildings around the main square, Sergels torg, and the Clear church was demolished”. It is a truth with modification, this smoke is also architecturally significant and extensive properties, some with only a few decades old.

Luxurious 1600-talsinteriör, with the model of the palace of Incomparable Photo: Birgitta Rubin

some visitors also react on the coloration inside the museum, with knalliga väggfärger just as at the national museum. At the city Museum says you like to relate to the colorful 1600s and ”enhance the experience” of the original architecture.

an interpretation and a matter of taste, but myself I thought, barely on the wall colours. Probably because they blend well into the environments, but also to some of the rooms are överbelamrade. You should probably visit the museum several times to find all things and the texts in the hidden crannies.

Pälsförsäljare at Slussen Photo: Mattias EK

There is a crucial difference between the new national museum and the city Museum: in the latter case, you have opted out of apps, and conveys all the facts of the texts on the site, but with some depressions on the digital screens. It has also invested in tactile touches, such as copies of fasaddekorationer from the palace Incomparable. In addition, house models and dolls in realistic classes.

Tableau with the boy who fetches the milk from the Association Mjölkdroppen. Photo: Mattias Ek

the Dolls have for me an air of a dusty provincial museum and can easily become rigid and silly – but it is what the locals demand in the publikundersökningar.

varies, but most are well made, as well as the scenograferade environments. And I think both adults and children can appreciate the visits of Michell potter, pälsförsäljaren at Slussen and the merchant Mr Schwan at Skeppsbron.

the Merchant Schwans office at Skeppsbron Photo: Mattias EK

In the widow Bökmans bedroom, with pottkakelugn and glass windows, is told to two of her three husbands were executed; the one in the Stockholm bloodbath, the other for his part in the plan to kill king Gustav Vasa. Here googling I me to the so-called ”gunpowder plot” and become at least curious about more facts.

In some areas, the city Museum focused on sound and moving images, as in teaterrummet where 1800-talsstjärnorna Emelie most popular and Jenny Lind is quickened. Tavelporträttet of Lind, however, is a copy, but overall we will see much more original artifacts than in the past. Including a never before shown the silver treasure from the end of the 1500s, which came with the excavated soil from the construction of free experimentation to Solberga. A skeleton of a rich vikingakvinna is another bargain, excavated at the t-banebygget on Järvafältet.

guess I can be particularly popular, a playhouse that the children will furnish and Mimmi Gustafsson reinvented the photographic studio from the turn of the last century. As an art critic, I am pleased also to see more of Stadsmuseets art treasures and to Johan Sevedboms 1700-talsserie with stadsutsikter had to move into the new, large auditorium.

Now we are just waiting on the opening of the restaurant in the ground floor, unclear as to when, for the locals to get back on all the ways important forum.