Contributor post by Camilla Engman



This trip is taking you to Karlskrona in Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. I will hang my exhibition and attend the show opening at Karlskrona Konsthall (arthall). It is a cold day with the sun trying to shine through the clouds. I was supposed to go by train but the train is set so there is a bus taking us to our destinations instead.



 

The bus driver could only drive four hours at a time, so after a while he takes a break and hands out sandwiches to all of us, and takes his break with us back in the bus. He lives in Karlskrona and promises to go to my exhibition.

I have great help to hang the exhibition by the gallery technicians. Half of my paintings are already in the gallery and the rest will turn up the next day, straight from my exhibition in Östersund. It is a little bit nervous before you know if everything really gets there on time. It turns out the paintings are stuck somewhere on their way, but close. The janitor, where the paintings are, offers himself to bring them to us. Happy ending :)




See the paintings here.  And a few more pictures from the arthall.


Next day after hanging it all I get time to look at the surroundings. It is a very cold day so I can't go so far. Maybe I should try to exhibit in the warm part of the year.




I walk around randomly on the streets. It is a very pretty town. Apparently the Naval Port of Karlskrona is now on the UNESCO World Heritage List The main square of Karlskrona is the biggest in Scandinavia, and actually the second biggest in Europe, after the Red Square of Moscow. I visit the Fredrik Church, the foundation of the church was laid in 1720, and it was inaugurated in 1744. It differs from usual Swedish churches in its yellow color and its adornment.


 
It seems like there is alot of "old fashioned" cafées in Karlskrona = they serve you by the table, they only have filter coffee, you get a refill and the cookies are small. I prefer a cafe latte, but I like these cafées very much.

 
Since I am going back home right after the opening, we do the celebration part the day before. They take me out for dinner and then a concert.




For obvious reasons I can't stay out late :) The opening goes well. They had a small contest before the show, people were asked to look at three of my paintings and write something, a story about one of them. We had so much fun reading them. Three of the contributions were selected and they got a small prize and read their own stories during the opening. I had tears in my eyes, they looked so proud.



A quick stop at the hot dog stand, for mashed potatoes and falafel, and then back to Gothenburg.