Our Editor Tours The Lund Konsthall Museum In Historic Lund, Sweden

Written by Shawn Packard Sunday, 21 November 2010 21:30

Lund Konsthall Museum is the result of a donation from the Old Savings’ Bank (today’s Finn Savings’ Bank) to the City of Lund. In 1953 the City Council decided to accept the gift and invited six architects for a competition to design the new kunsthalle. In 1954 the jury unanimously decided that Klas Anshelm’s proposal should be realized. Klas Anshelm (1914–1980) was a well-known a busy architect in Lund. With its monolithic brick façade Lund Konsthall became one of Sweden’s finest exhibition venues. Its dramatic and yet restrained form is well adapted to contemporary art, and also blends in with the medieval architecture of Lund. In 1997 the building was renovated and in 2004 it underwent a lighter renovation, aiming at restoring as much as possible of the original architecture. On 1 September 1957 Lund Konsthall was inaugurated with the exhibition Swedish Contemporary Art. During 50 years the exhibition programme has been ambitious and widely recognized, featuring both Swedish and international contemporary art. The exhibition Lund Konsthall 50 Years (31 March – 20 May 2007) featured a selection of artists and artworks that have been shown at Lund Konsthall since its inauguration. In connection with this exhibition the book Lund Konsthall 50 Years, and exhibition Posters were published. It can be bought at the reception (800 pages, hardcover, full-colour reproductions, SEK 380,-). In connection with the jubilee exhibition Lund Konsthall organized a programme with talks and discussions about contemporary art and its institutions. Works by the following artists are shown in the exhibition: Torsten Andersson, Knut Andreassen, Klas Anshelm, Bianca Maria Barmen, Beck & Jung, Dick Bengtsson, Ola Billgren, Max Book, Bård Breivik, Elina Brotherus, Barbro Bäckström, Carlos Capelán, Lena Cronqvist, Carl Johan De Geer, Lars Englund, Jörgen Fogelquist, Roj Friberg, GAN, Poul Gernes, Hein Heinsen, Carl Fredrik Hill, Lars Hillersberg, Åke Hodell, Sture Johannesson, Sven Jonson, Annica Karlsson-Rixon, Clay Ketter, Brita af Klercker, Hilma af Klint, Bruno Knutman, Sivert Lindblom, Eva Löfdahl, Carl Magnus, Melin & Österlin, Tracey Moffatt, Wiwen Nilsson, Richard Nonas, Georg Oddner, Erik Olson, Lennart Olson, Eric H Olson, Signe Persson-Melin, Nina Roos, Anna Sjödahl, Annika Svenbro, Esaias Thorén, Anne Thulin, Lefifi Tladi, Sophie Tottie, Ulf Trotzig, John Wipp, Fumio Yoshimura, Anders Österlin. Klas Anshelm, Architect said . . ‘I have tried to achieve an environment, tried to achieve a spatial frame for objects, and also to facilitate the changing of light bulbs.’

Lund Konsthall is a significant international contemporary art venue. This is achieved with exhibitions and other events of high international standard, featuring art from the nearby region as well as from the rest of the world. The museum is also engaged in continuous research and experimentation with new exhibition formats, and offers a programme that is distinct and accessible to existing and new groups of visitors.This is achieved with interpretation and communication: the creation of meaning through the visual and spatial articulation of exhibitions, free-distribution printed matter with clearly formulated presentation texts, more substantial catalogues, public talks, lectures and moderated discussion events. A comprehensive programme of gallery talks and guided tours is offered free of charge to schools and kindergartens in Lund. Lund Konsthall is responsible for the City of Lund Art Collection, which is deposited in the City’s various departments and institutions. Acquisitions are made by the Director in collaboration with a group of elected politicians. The museum is also responsible for the production of public art when the City of Lund commissions new buildings or renovate existing buildings. Autumn's two exhibitions of Olafur Eliasson was a collaboration between Lund Konsthall and Malmö Konsthall. Together they formed a whole that offered a unique opportunity to take part of Olafur Eliasson's diverse oeuvre. At Lund Konsthall demonstrated the breadth of Eliasson's artistic inquiry. The newest exhibition will be 27 November 2010 – 16 January 2011, is an exhibition of 15 younger artists. They come from different countries and cultural backgrounds and they work with different topics, means of expression and techniques. What unites them is that they have all graduated recently, between 2006 and 2010, from the two art academies in our region: the Malmö Art Academy, which is part of Lund University, and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen.