In the Borås International Sculpture Biennal 2012, which opened last weekend, most of the new sculptures are on display in and around our town’s Cultural Centre (including Art Museum, Theatre and Library) and the nearby Gustav Adolf’s Church from 1906.
This gave me a good opportunity to also take some interior photos.
Let’s start with the church:
The pulpit and the baptismal font
The big church organ at the back
A smaller organ, drums, and a piano…
And the possibility to light a candle as expression of prayer.
A votive ship
Votive offerings also called ex-votos are given in fulfillment of a vow or in gratitude, to a church where the worshipper seeks grace or wishes to give thanks. In Scandinavia, model ships were common votive gifts from sailors.
One of the sculptures included in the 2012 Biennal,
on display in the church: ‘House 18’ by Lars-Åke Åberg.
I like how they placed this with the light coming in
from above through the church windows.
And it fits in beautifully with biblical images of the Church:
“you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a
spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5)”
The exterior – just so you know where you’ve been!
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Close to the Gustav Adolf Church is our Cultural Centre,
including Art Museum, Theatre and Library
The entrance hall facing the church is extra interesting just now
because of this work of art by Alyson Shotz, USA, entitled
“The Shape of Space” – which is part of the Sculpture Biennal.
With this sculpture, you’re supposed to also explore the interior…
Looking out from inside the “Shape of Space” sculpture.
(Do you recognize the church?)
Interior from the Art Museum
Interior from the entrance to the theatre
Interior from the Library
The new automatic Book Return Machine
Ugly, but saving the staff a lot of manual lifting of books.
From what I understand, the books get automatically sorted in the machine and then the staff can just pull a trolley out and roll that away to the right section of the library, to manually sort the books into the shelves.
Visit Friday My Town Shoot Out
to see more interiors from around the wordl
i love your town sooooo much! and have never been there, if i could fly or float, i would come for a visit. that church is awesome/amazing and my favorite inside the church is the candle holder next to the piano. and i want so much to go inside that wonderful and beautiful shape of space. amazing inside and outside. I LOVE IT! is it made from pieces of glass?
ReplyDeleteThe brochure says the works is made up of thin convex lenses, fresnel-lenses, of the kind used in mirror reflex cameras. Depending on the viewing angle, the lenses are either reflective or transparent.
DeleteOh my gosh, so much to love here!!!! I love the church, had no idea abut the ships, a church with a ship hanging from the ceiling, that is cool. What part of the church is it in? And I love the little house sitting in the light. It looks cool, clean, spiritual. Is it alabaster or some material like that? I would love to just run my hand over it, I bet it would be cool to the touch. But my favorite has to be The Shape Of Space!!! It is awesome, when you go inside, it makes the world look almost like a kaleidoscope, only better. I guess as you walk through, each scene looks different. Boy would I LOVE to go in there!!! What is it made from, glass? Your post today is so full of strange beauty, my favorite kind!!!
ReplyDeleteI think I saw the ship from a side aisle, towards the back of the church.
DeleteThe house sculpture is alabaster and marble.
DeleteOh, I see in your answer to Sandra what the Shape Of Space is made from. I agree with her, your town is amazing. You would think it is the art capitol of the world, I would just love to visit...but not in winter!
ReplyDeleteLove those photos of the church, so beautiful! I almost went to the nearest library to take some photos, until I remembered they don't allowed photography in it. But of course that doesn't stop some people with their mobile camera but mine is a DSLR and it's so obvious!
ReplyDeleteI was using my point-and-shoot, it's not as flat and discreet as a mobile but not as obvious as a DSLR. I didn't ask for permission... The library wasn't very crowded when I was there, easy enough to avoid pointing-and-shooting directly at people ;)
DeleteLovely, lovely, lovely. There's amazing creativity in that church and your pics are no less creative.
ReplyDeleteThe Shape of Space is fascinating!
ReplyDeleteSome very beautiful shots of the church... but that pulpit looks precarious!
ReplyDeleteWow! What a shoot out! I love the kaleidoscopic shot from inside the Shape of Space inside the Cultural Centre, a double whammy. Also really like the candle inside the globe in the church. So many great shots, I could go on and on.
ReplyDeletegreat pictures!
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful photos. I love churches. They seem to embody all of our very best intentions. Thanks for sharing a wonderful tour with us.
ReplyDeleteGreat selection as usual. Magnificent church. But I also love the lighting in the library shots. And the man looking inside (at the interior) of the glass sculpture is such a great approach to the theme. Sometimes I look at a submission and think I should pick all six pictures from it...but, of course, I can't. You have a great eye.
ReplyDeleteThanks for steering me to your votive ship! And all the other wonderful things in this post.
ReplyDeleteIt is great how the light comes through House 18 and you can see the inner veins of the stone. In Hebrew 18 has the meaning of "life." Appropriate here.
I like the paintings on the church walls - they ghive it a medieval look which makes an kinteresting contrast with its more modern aspects.
ReplyDeleteAnd the ship was both beautiful and interesting. I've only ever seen votice candles in English churches never votive gifts - what a lovely idea.
I shall refrain from commenting on the mechanics of the book return machines until I've tried one but I do think the absence of human contact is to be regretted..
I have not tried the book return machine myself yet. Most of my library contact now goes through the small branch library only 5 minutes walk from where I live. If I know what I want, I can search the main library catalogue on the internet, order the book online and pick it up at the small library. And why should I carry return books all the way into town when I can leave them at the branch library and they send them on! ;) I only visit the main library when I feel like some manual browsing around.
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