Stockholm, Day 2 - Artipelag

Our second full day in Stockholm we started the day with sightseeing and took the car out to the art museum Artipelag. The name is actually a combination of Art, Activities and Archipelago - and this place was born from a vision by Björn Jakobson, the founder of the "Baby-Björn" company, in 2000.

We chose on purpose to park in the car park furthest away from the museum, to get to enjoy the boardwalk footpath up to the building, along the open water. (A decision we got to regret later, but at least on the way there the weather was beautiful and sunny).

On the way there was sculptures all around us, as parts of the outdoor exhibition "Sculpture in Nature". The synergy created by these artworks displayed against the natural backdrop is something quite important at Artipelag. Here below 'Ainsa IV' by Jaume Plensa.

The sculpture 'Boy', 2012, by Lars Nilsson.

What a beautiful place!
The building melts into the natural surroundings, located between the pine trees and the cliffs. Natural elements occupy space inside the building, welcomed in through the walls and the roof. And can you see the figure perched on the edge of the roof..?

That sculpture is by Maria Miesenberger, just like the one below. 

The view was breathtaking from the terrace, even more so as the grey clouds approached. We actually didn't visit the current exhibitions, but enjoyed a 'fika' outside instead while it was still sunny; after having bought tickets to the guided tour of the "Sculpture in Nature" exhibition, which was going to start a bit later on.

Even the bathrooms were amazingly beautiful.

The guide for our outdoor tour was very good, and I listened and took notes. Who knows, I might be able to connect some of the things here to what I talk about at the Louvre Abu Dhabi! We started by looking at the Belgian artist Berlinde de Bruyckere, and her sculpture 'Rodt' from 2012, installed here at the main entrance.

A bronze sculpture by Per Kirkeby - 'Monument':

 The famous egg-shaped sauna 'Solar Egg' by Bigert & Bergström:

'What holds me back carries me further' by Klara Kristalova:

Well, while the rain held off during most of the guided tour, the skies then COMPLETELY opened when we were on our way back to the car... Linnea was the only one that had brought her rain jacket, so Erika and I got absolutely soaked, ha ha! We had to go back home and change into dry clothes for the evenings adventures.