Hökarängen kommun
Where can you eat the best ceviche in town, or see an exhibition in an old public laundry? I work in Östermalm and hang out on Söder, but is there really nothing else to discover? I laughed to myself and my thoughts wandered back to when I first arrived here myself. As a student, I was not as lucky with the location of my first workplace. My job was to deliver leaflets in the remote suburbs of the city, where places with names like Rågsved, Husby or Tensta rang exotically in my ears.
I decided to reveal the secrets of these suburban Sesames to a group of friends. Every second Sunday, we would head to a different suburb of this sprawling city.
Detailed Road Map of Hökarängen
Our first trip took us to the place where the retro charm of 60s Sweden combines with the warmth of the growing Latino community — Hökarängen. First, I went crazy shopping in a Latino store run by a couple from Bolivia. I asked the owner, Maria Castillon, gracefully holding her three-month old baby, what the locals mostly buy. A special tradition of neon store signs in bold vintage type gives a coherent and distinct character to the hood.
Hökarängen Map - Suburb - Stockholm Municipality, Stockholm
But the visual aesthetics are just one sign of the ideological legacy of the area. In Folkhemmet, the whole city environment was carefully designed to serve for creating a united community of responsible citizens, all of them participating in the life of the particular area. Every part of the neighbourhood would have its central building, where the people could gather, discuss and grew together.
Today, one can still feel the communitarian spirit of the vicinity. With Google maps showing us the way, we headed for another important building — Konstahall C, a modern art gallery. To our surprise, there was quite a unique installation awaiting behind the door: rows of huge washing machines. I asked Jens Strandberg, one of the directors of the gallery, about the beginning of this curious union between laundry and art.
It was here that people could meet and both discuss and fight, while doing their typical maintenance work. Until , the laundry had employees who would oversee and coordinate the public access. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, they have been removed and it has become much more chaotic. So, in , when the idea of opening an art gallery emerged, we actually offered to combine both functions and help out with the laundry bookings in exchange for the exhibitions space.
Even the rules of exposing in one of the rooms are pretty democratic.
hökarängen kommun5
Just as booking your laundry time, you need to come and simply put your name on the list and await your time. First come first served! Konsthall C is a clear example of how a surprisingly rich and ambiguous cultural output can be offered in the suburbs. Whereas in the centre of Stockholm the division between the south and the north, the posh and the artsy, the rich and the poor is quite inflexible, and the crowds from Stureplan and Mariatorget rarely mix, Hökarängen felt like a breath of fresh air, free from these unwritten demographic borders.
Cutting-edge art cohabitates with the simplicity of everyday life, giving a wider audience than the usual coterie of hipsters a chance to appreciate it. And although the projects presented in Konsthall C are quite conceptual, the management do a lot to engage the locals.
Hokarangen Map — Satellite Images of Hokarangen
Just a few months ago they let children open and guide their own exhibition there, and they also lead a book club in a neighbouring apartment. When we say goodbye to Jens, we stumble upon direct proof of how much the residents appreciate these activities. We will always keep the laundry and the art hall here, they will never move it away! I just want to come here and feel the atmosphere, watch the washing machines spin… I live in Folkhemmet and this is a monument of culture history!
After contemplating the art we needed some maintenance ourselves. A table at Cevicheria Aji y Ajo was waiting. And the rumours had not been exaggerated: it was a real Peruvian food paradise!