Most towns and villages have some kind of cultural centre, a village hall (used for a variety of public and private events) and/or museum of local history. This village hall in Bredared, Västergötland, has recently had the addition of a museum housing the works of local woodcraft artist Uno Axelsson (d. 2002). The pictures to the right show the village hall; the one in the top left hand corner is the museum building. In the summer there is also a café in the village hall so tourists can stop for coffee and a piece of cake in connection with visiting the museum. On the day we were there it was raining though so not tempting to sit in the garden!
Uno Axelsson was over 50 years old when he started making wood sculptures. He found his inspiration in nature, studying animals, and collecting oddly shaped pieces of wood. All his sculptures were made in one piece. The eyes are not glass but painted and lacquered. He never sold any of his sculptures, he gave some away but kept most of them in a private museum in his own barn. Over a period of 27 years, he made about 250 wooden sculptures, big and small. After his death, his collection was moved to a new museum built by the local folklore society.
I took a lot of photos when we were there… Sharing some in this post here, and more will appear (or have already appeared) at my other blog The Island of the Voices.
The sculptures are very life-like and at the same time display a great sense of humour.
This makes them popular with both young and old visitors.
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5 comments:
lucky you these are brilliant.
some of these sculptures are breathtaking, when I saw the moose and baby, i actually sucked my breath in and sighed loudly with an ohhhhhh. the door is really interesting on the town hall. I truly wish i could see these in real life. your photos tell me how wonderful they are.
This post reminded me of my grandfather. Thank you for sharing!
The owls are my favorite!! And I do like the shape on the door of the town hall! I'm glad you told us how he makes the eyes, they look so real!
DawnTreader...more example of this fabulous wood art! This artist is amazing. He does more with wood than many artists can do on paper. I also like the owl best.
Dan
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