UMEDALEN SKULPTUR -
UMEDALEN SCULPTURE PARK

In 1994 Galleri Andersson Sandström and the real estate company Balticgruppen set up Umedalen Skulptur, a sculpture park situated in Umeå, in the north of Sweden. In the last 13 years the park has exhibited works by over 150 national and international artists.

The Umedalen area consists of about 20 stone buildings from the 1930s, then a hospital for people with mental illnesses. In 1987 Balticgruppen bought the 40 000 m² area and slowly started to renovate the buildings. Today they are used for a variety of activities that support the local community, including schools, day nurseries, a library, offices, and an art school. The former boiler room for the hospital houses Galleri Andersson Sandström.

Exhibitions are displayed among an ever-growing permanent collection of important works of contemporary sculpture. The permanent collection, which Balticgruppen has purchased over the years, consists of 30works. These include works by Miroslaw Balka, Louise Bourgeois, Tony Cragg, Anthony Gormley, Anish Kapoor and Clay Ketter. Over the years the sculpture park has become known for the wide scope of its exhibition policy. In Umedalen Skulptur young artists at the beginning of their careers meet well established names from the pantheon of contemporary sculpture.

Every second year there is an opening at the park to showcase the updated collection. Balticgruppen finances this bi-annual project and Galleri Andersson Sandström curates the shows. Umedalen Skulptur 2008 will be inaugurated on the 7th of June by Lars Nittve, director of Moderna Museet in Stockholm, and the exhibition will last until the 23rd of August 2008.

Umedalen Skulptur has been awarded many prizes and is one of the most popular sights in the region. It has more than 20000 visitors every summer, and is open to the public 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

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