Host told me about the metro art yesterday and I felt I would be a bad tourist if I didn’t make some kind of effort to get to see at least some of it.
I had to work for the best part of the day, but Host and I had a break at lunchtime and went to eat in a lovely restaurant just a few minutes’ walk through the slush from his home. The set menu was very nice indeed; roasted cauliflower with really nicely seasoned special mashed potato served with a variety of green leaves and roasted hazelnuts. One to create at home, methinks. The price was reasonable for the food (165kr) if perhaps a little eye-opening for the slothful tourist, and we got to start filling up on homemade bread and salted butter while we waited for it to come.
For me the most shocking price was the cost of the alcohol; 155kr for a glass of wine! This is down to Sweden’s alcohol tax, but the serving of wine was very generous and as a result I yawned my way through my afternoon lessons.
In the evening, I set out to find some metro art simply becuse I thought I should. Stockholm’s metro is home to the what is often described as “the world’s longest art gallery.” There are about 100 metro stations on the tunnelbana and most of them have some kind of artwork present, spanning from simple 1950s installations to the multi-coloured joyfests of present day.
Host tells me that by law, 2% of the budget for building any new metro station in Stockholm is to be spent on art. In the more modern stations that are simply big holes blasted through rock, this tends to be colourful decoration but in some of the older stations, it can be more subtle.
Host’s metro, Skokskyrkogården, has a simple wooden installation of a table and chairs, but the central station is a veritable smörgåsbord of glorious. Skokskyrkogården seemed a good place to start.
I bought my 75-minute ticket and took the green line to T-Centralen, from whence I headed east on the blue line to Kungsträdgården before taking the first blue line train west to Solna Centrum, looking at what I might want to look at on my way back. At Solna Centrum, I started heading back and had a swift change onto the green to pop out of gates and revalidate my ticket at Thorildsplan, and then back home.
T-Centralen opened in 1957 and was the first station to feature artwork. It’s quite blue, apparently because blue with the simple flowers and leaves gives passengers pause and “a chance to clear their mind.”
Kungsträdgården is one of Stockholm’s oldest public parks. The colour scheme – red, white and green – is a reference to the old French formal garden and the statues around the station are replicas of Makalös Palace’s exterior art.
Solna Centrum opened with the first arm of the blue line in 1975. The bright green and red represents the forest and the evening sun setting behind the treetops. Some pictures illustrate some of the most debated societal topics in 70’s era Sweden; the environment, deforestation, and the depopulation of rural areas.
Fridhemsplan has a maritime theme which has nothing to do with what’s above ground.
Thorildsplan was built in 1952, but the pixel art is a more recent addition, from 2008. When the art was commissioned, it was with the understanding that it be done in tiles. Thorildplan’s surroundings reminded the artist of video game levels, inspiring pixelated clouds, mushroom power-ups, and projectiles.
There’s more detailed information on the official Visit Stockholm web site which I plagiarised shamelessly in writing of this post.
I’d have liked longer, if I’m honest; I should have listened to the local. Still. It’s not going anywhere. I am reliably informed that Düsseldorf and Helsinki have their own underground gaudiness which demand attention.
