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PHOTOGRAPHY

Fotografiska to open Shanghai sister gallery

The trend-setting Fotografiska gallery in Stockholm, which opened its doors just three years ago, will have branches in China and the US by 2016. A new co-owner has joined the team for the international expansion.

Fotografiska to open Shanghai sister gallery

The Södermalm exhibition hall in Stockholm harbour quickly won the hearts of capital residents when it opened in 2010, carving out a niche figuratively and literally with its unique exhibits in an old red-brick customs house near Slussen.

“New York would be proud to have such a gallery,” one reviewer wrote of the museum on review website Yelp last year. And soon they will. Having housed world-class photographers such as Annie Leibovitz, Lennart Nilsson, and Sally Mann, now Fotografiska itself is making a move onto the world stage. Its owners have announced plans to open in New York and Shanghai in 2016.

Not one to do things by halves, the institution’s physical additions are accompanied – and financed – by a new shareowner: Axel Johnson, a family-owned investment company that invests in European trade. The family, which also owns Swedish department store chain Åhléns, will be represented by daughter and New-York based photographer Sophie Mörner as well as Helena Hernander, from the family’s company Alto Cumulus.

“There is no other museum like Fotografiska, not even in New York,” Sophie Mörner said in a press statement. “It’s a meeting place, a place for art, a place to dream. I think Fotografiska is one of the best museums in the world.”

The Local caught up with co-founder Jan Broman to ask about the expansion.

One of your goals, as written in the mission statement, is to establish Sweden in the world. Will the branches abroad therefore feature many Swedish artists?

No, not really.

What will the mix of artists, Swedish and others, look like then?

Basically like here.

What is the museum going to be called abroad?

Same name. Fotografiska.

As an American, I can tell you we may have some trouble pronouncing that.

Hm.

How did you choose specifically New York and Shanghai?

No specific reason.

There weren’t any special reasons you chose New York and Shanghai over other cities?

They’re exciting cities and we figured we’d like to open there someday, so why not now?

What does the current customer base of the museum look like? Very Swedish? Very mixed?

Mixed.

Okay. A two-part question: You (the Broman brothers who own the museum) have covered ongoing conflicts by, for example, sending photojournalist Ron Haviv on assignment to Haiti. Will you, a) continue to send people on assignments, and b) have this scholarly element in China and the USA?

Absolutely.

Solveig Rundquist

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CULTURE

Daddy cool: Swedish dads go viral as boy band

Five Swedish fathers singing capella pop songs while taking care of their young children have taken social media by storm, with their videos garnering tens of millions of views.

Daddy cool: Swedish dads go viral as boy band

The five men, all in their 30s, film their “Dad Harmony” sessions while hanging out with their kids at home in the northern town of Skellefteå.

“This story all started at my bachelor party” in the summer of 2022, Peter Widmark, a 33-year-old who works in sales, told AFP in an interview. “We were hanging out and singing as we usually do when we hang out… (and) my brother filmed it and put it on TikTok with his seven followers.”

The next morning the dads discovered the video had been viewed 40,000 times. The number had skyrocketed to 20 million hits worldwide within a few weeks.

The five friends decided to start posting videos regularly, shot in their kitchens or on their sofas, often holding their little ones on their laps.

Singing the chorus of Leonard Cohen’s classic “Hallelujah”, one of the dads can be seen holding his weeks-old newborn in his arms.

“It’s a soothing thing when we sing,” Widmark said, explaining why the children are usually so calm in the videos.

‘Typical Swedish guys’

“We are typical Swedish guys,” said Widmark’s brother Tomas, who is also part of the group, adding it was “not that unusual” for men in Sweden to spend a lot of time with their children.

“Almost every guy in Sweden is used to taking paternity leave so it’s not a big deal for us,” he added.

Each of the dads has two kids.

Dad Harmony’s repertoire includes hits by Michael Jackson, the Beatles and popular Christmas songs.

Since the end of November the group has been on a month-long tour criss-crossing Sweden to perform live shows each weekend – albeit without their kids.

During the weeks, they go back to Skellefteå and continue to work at their normal jobs and spend time with their families.

The members of Dad Harmony in an interview with AFP. Photo: Viken Kantarci/AFP

“I just stumbled on their video on Instagram and I was mesmerised,” said Louise Elgström, a 41-year-old fan who attended a recent show in the town of Norrköping.

She said their appeal lies in the fact that “they feel so natural and also (that they are) involving their children”.

The dads vow their success won’t go to their heads. “No televisions flying from the hotel rooms!” joked band member Sebastian Åkesson.

But the group has big dreams: they hope to line up tour dates in the United States and Asia, and say they would love to sing with Elton John one day.

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