Ann's Baby Shower

On the weekend it was time for a Baby Shower for my colleague and good friend Ann. 

It was a lovely evening in nice company, fun to see everyone outside of work! 

We played Baby Bingo and Baby Charades - see my ‘The Lion sleeps tonight’-impression?

Indian food for dinner and yummy desserts, thank you so much Ann and family, and best of luck! Can not wait to meet your new little princess!

 

The Quantum Dome Project

There has been something cooking in the Lower Forum at work for a few weeks now - an installation of a brand new VR experience!
Today we were invited to come try it out, before it opens to the public, and of course we jumped right on that!

This VR experience has been developed by a team here at the museum, and it is inspired by some of the pieces from the Louvre Abu Dhabi collection. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect really, and was rather apprehensive when we got the big “helmets” on, but WOW! It blew my mind!

I mean, almost literally! It was crazy how the brain reacted to all these VR sceneries; the amount of time I wanted to bring my phone out of my pocket to take photos… Duh…

It was like nothing I had ever experienced before. I can not wait to do it again! 

If you are in Abu Dhabi any time soon, come try it for yourself! It inaugurates on the 2nd July.

Morfar's Birthday

I wasn’t there for Morfar’s birthday this year unfortunately, but of course we connected via Zoom. Happiest of birthdays to you Dad, 88 years today, hip hip hourray!

New rotations

Coming back to work there is not a lot going on at this time of the year, it really slows down. 
It’s good, gives us time to catch up on some admin, and prepare for the next upcoming temporary exhibition; but mostly we have been enjoying some new rotations in the galleries. Both loans, but a surprising amount of new exciting acquisitions as well. See here:

Portrait of the artist, 1800, Hortense Haudebourt-Lescot:

The Rialto Bridge from the South,  c. 1720, Antonio Canal (Il Canaletto):

Portrait de Kosa Pan, first Ambassador from Siam to the court of Louis XIV, 1686, Antoine Benoist:

The Storm, 1947-48, Germaine Richier and Woman of Venice V, 1956, cast 1958, Alberto Giacometti:

White Oval, 1921, Vassily Kandinsky:

Casket, c. 1543, Ceylon:

I decided to bring some colour and wear my new Picasso t-shirt one day. I was thinking to save it for the Picasso-exhibition, but it needs more exposure than that! This motif is a bit special, as Picasso created it for the 1958 Peace Conference in Stockholm. It portrays two hands grasping a bouquet of flowers. Picasso painted it wanting us to pause and consider the importance of connection and kinship in the creation of peace.

Mamma Mia the Musical

I seem to be in my Mamma Mia-era, as I returned to Abu Dhabi it was time to experience the musical! 

I had actually bought the ticket for this long before Linnea and I decided to do the Mamma Mia the Party, so it was just a coincidence.

One of the girls from the SwedishLadies-group had suggested we group together and go and have fun, so there was about 15 of us who had booked in.

We started with a Mamma Mia-themed brunch at the arena before the show. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was, both the food and the drinks! Live music and a glitter bar made for some girlie fun before we entered to see the show.

The show was great! I hadn’t seen it before, and I was actually surprised to learn that the musical came before the movie! How did I not know that?!

At the end, everyone was standing up dancing and singing along. Electric atmosphere! Fun night out, a bit of a happy pill!

Typical Swedish summer

I had sun and beautiful weather in Stockholm, but then it turned. The rest of my stay in Skara was full of grey skies, cold days and rain. 
I only had time to help mowing the lawn once, did a bit of gardening, and managed to find a dry day to install the fish tower:

But the rest of the time was pretty miserable. We went shopping, but not the kind of shopping I enjoy - it was more Mormor's paradise:

Here are the results of the shopping:

The weather was really coming and going. Well, it didn't matter much to us really, we just stayed inside on the rainy days. I did feel sorry for all the young people celebrating their Student (=Graduation though), in the cold and rain. The weather wasn’t even with us for the Swedish National Day, that day it was even too cold to sit outside to have our fika. 

But it didn’t stop us from celebrating with a bit of Smörgåstårta (=sandwich cake) though. Om nom nom!

Happy Ending

The reason I had booked this weekend in Stockholm in the first place, was actually to go to a show. Back in January Pia and I got tickets to go and see the final show in the trilogy from Pernilla Wahlgren - Happy Ending.  

We came to Stockholm to see the first show six years ago, for the weekend of my 45th birthday. Since then she has done three different shows, and this weekend she was putting on all three of them Thursday, Friday and Saturday. This was going to be the very last show ever, so we decided we wanted to see it.

We had booked a hotel connected to the Avicii Arena, so we were nice and close!

We had a great time, it was very funny. I like this rather innocent humour, where it’s all about recognition. They poked fun at many situations that you yourself often have found yourself in. 

 

Pytterian

As every summer, we had to pass Pytterian for come classic husmanskost (=Swedish cooking). 
Om nom nom!

The Hallwyl Museum

After the visit to 'The Small Wide World' it was time for our guided tour of the mansion itself. I was rather excited!

This house was built as a private home and winter residence, completed in 1898, for Walther and Wilhelmina von Hallwyl. There were no budget limitations, so genuine materials were used throughout and the house was equipped with state of the art technology, such as electricity, running water and telephones. It spans over 5 floors, some 40 rooms and 2000 square meters!

This museum is one of Sweden's largest cultural-historical collections. The Hallwyl Museum differs from other museums created in Europe and America during the same time by including the entire house with all its objects. Everything here has been preserved, from the salons and galleries to the kitchen and bathrooms. The decision to turn the house into a museum was taken already when the couple moved in.

We could see the Dining Room we had seen as a miniature, in all its glory:

The Hallwyl family home and all its contents were donated to the Swedish state in 1920 so that they could be exhibited as a museum. All the rooms are untouched and unchanged, exactly as they once were.
This is the Julius Kronbergs' portrait of Wilhelmina Hallwyl, painted in 1895. An unusual representation of a society lady, if you look at her clothes, and her pose.
It was Wilhelmina who built up the extensive collections of weapons, paintings, ceramics, silver, textiles and furniture during her lifetime.

The Porcelain Room, containing Wilhelmina's collection of European porcelain. Almost every 18th- and early 19th century manufacturer is represented in the more than 500 objects. These objects were never used, they were intended purely as collectibles.

Porcelain from Rörstrand:

The Billiard Room, a mix of Renaissance and Baroque styles, panelled in walnut and with a beautiful wallpaper with golden details.

The Armoury with a collection of antique weapons and armour focusing on hunting arms and finely decorated pieces rather than proper combat weaponry.

The Great Drawing Room, which was the setting for festive occasions, such as balls and musical evenings. The interior was designed to accommodate the set of 16th century tapestries, made in Brussels. The Steinway was delivered in 1896, and was restored in 1990. It is now kept at concert pitch.

The artist Julius Kronberg painted An Open Air Concert, for the ceiling in 1898. An allusion to the musical purpose of the room.

The Smoking Room, where the family would gather to drink coffee and play cards. The interior was loosely inspired by the Orient with walls lined with silk fabric and furniture upholstered with Turkmenistan rugs. 
The modernist paining is a portrait of the grandson Rolf de Maré, painted 1916 by Nils Dardel.

The Silver Room:

The China Room, with the biggest single collection - the Asian ceramics. 

This collection's main focus was on porcelain made for export markets, imported to Europe by the East India companies.

Some objects were also special commissions, like this cup and saucer from two sets of services decorated with the Linnea flower, made for the botanist Carl Linneaus:

The Bowling Alley on the top floor:

The Gym:

The Gallery:

It was a great tour. Even Pia, who admitted she was not all that convinced but came along for the company - enjoyed it!

What an amazing museum, and what a glorious story of what seems to have been an extraordinary woman. Oaw!