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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