Malmö/ Sweden

At the Moderna Museet, Malmo, Left: Smudge Up, 2009 by Finish artist Marianna Uutinen, Right: Inside the space
Photography: Marcus Hay

At the Moderna Museet, Malmo, The Munch Exhibit, Scandinavian Pain, Photography: Marcus Hay

At the Moderna Museet, Malmo, The Munch Exhibit, Scandinavian Pain, Photography: Marcus Hay

At the Moderna Museet, Malmo, The Munch Exhibit, Scandinavian Pain, Photography: Marcus Hay

The exterior of  Moderna Museet, Malmo, Photography: Marcus Hay

The interior of cafe at Moderna Museet, Malmo, Photography: Marcus Hay

The interior of shop and entrance at Moderna Museet Malmo, Photography: Marcus Hay

The locker room at  Moderna Museet Malmo, Photography: Marcus Hay

On the Streets, Malmo, Photography: Marcus Hay

On the Streets, Malmo, Photography: Marcus Hay

Left: On the Streets, Malmo, Right: Untitled, 2011 by Danish Artist Sergej Jensen, Photography: Marcus Hay

Left: On the Streets, Malmo,  Right: Inside of the Interior of a store, Photography: Marcus Hay

Taking the train across the Öresund Bridge from Copenhagen, Denmark to Malmö, Sweden is quite an amazing journey, The bridge is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe and connects the two major metropolitan areas, It is a beautiful way to see the two countries meet, When you get to the other side from Copenhagen to Malmö, you are greeted with a station that looks straight out of Bladerunner, Images of Swedish life are projected on the stations walls as you dismount the train, you feel like you are in a movie. 

Malmö was one of the earliest and most industrialized towns of Scandinavia, but it struggled with the adaptation to post-industrialism. Since the construction of the Öresund Bridge, Malmö has undergone a major transformation with impressive architectural developments, attracting new bio tech and IT companies, and particularly students through Malmö University.One of the newer buildings the Moderna Musett in Malmö is one of those buildings.

Built in 2009 in an old electrical factory, Tham & Videgård Arkitekter, the building Architects were entrusted with the task of creating the extension which could be seen as a building within a building, a contemporary addition within the existing shell. The shell is bright orange, almost neon and inside the color is carried through the shop/ cafe with a bright yellow cloakroom with lockers that have artists quotes inside. While we were there an exhibition featuring Norwegian Artist Edvard Munch, best known for his work The Scream. It was inside a barn that had been built inside the Museum, The barn had a bright pink neon sign that spelt Scandinavian Pain the title of the exhibition. To see such classic paintings exhibited in this new setting breathed new life into them, they felt liberated from your normal expectations of a Modern Art Gallery and the way these paintings are usually viewed, somehow it gave them a more everyday feel and the way the artist probably saw them. 

Visiting Malmö is defiantly worth it while in Copenhagen.