Monday, 30 September 2013

Day 50: Strange public art 2


Sometimes I work in Akalla - a relatively socially deprived suburb of Stockholm. This is a mural in the underground station there, which is widely ignored by people. Today the escalators weren't working so I looked at this for longer than usual as I waited for the lift. I wondered:

1. Why the mural is so miserable! I mean, Akalla is quite a miserable place anyway, surely a bright mural would liven it up?
2. If the people in the background were wearing Hijabs and if the mural was making a statement about the fashionable westerners in the foreground against the muslims in the back (Akalla is a very muslim area)
3. Actually, they're not Muslims. It looks like a drab socialist image from a few decades ago. Are the fashionable young people in the foreground a criticism of wealth at other people's expense?
4. Is that a vagina?

I did some research and I discovered:

The mural is painted by Birgit Ståhl-Nyberg a social realist artist who often painted to criticise aspects of society. She painted in the 70's so this mural is probably making some criticism of Socialism or maybe a criticism of the breakdown of socialism? I actually can't decide...you can decide for yourself!
At any rate, I think it's still quite a relevant mural considering the state of society as it seems in Akalla, even if it is quite depressing for a Monday morning's commute.

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