The Sculpture Tour
Trollhättan

 

Download a digital map of The Sculpture Tour from Google Maps here.

 

Den heliga lågan (The Holy Flame)

Axel Ebbe
Installed in 1936, Karl Johans torg (Karl Johan’s square)
In 1930 the municipality received a donation of SEK 35,000 from Caroline Setterberg for artwork to be placed in Karl Johan's square. According to the donor, it should "consist of a female figure, placed on a granite cliff, surrounded by a water pool, carved in granite". Several proposals were submitted to a committee, but nothing seemed suitable. Setterberg then contacted Axel Ebbe, who thought a fountain would restrict the function of the square as a place to rest. The artist wanted the statue to have a burning gas flame, but this idea was dismissed.

The holy flame was unveiled on June 23, 1936 and became Trollhättan's first public artwork.

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

Flytande matta (Floating carpet)

Åsa-Maria Bengtsson
Installed in 2006, Kanaltorget (The Canal Square)
Oriental carpet in mosaic that can be experienced during the summer months. The artwork won first prize in the Culture and Leisure Board's competition to decorate Kanaltorget with appropriate art.

In the competition program it was stated: “The artist's task is to design the place using water and light. These elements can be the focus or be part of a larger whole. The steps are supposed to be a place for get-togethers and relaxation, a place to return to, to stop by, or to be close to the water that passes by - a place that can be seen from many different points along the canal, where the artistic design charges the place with energy and importance.”

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

Sol ute, stol inne, för hjärta och sinne (Sun outdoors, chair indoors, all for the heart and soul)

Ingemar Lolo Funck Andersson
Installed in 2008, Kanaltorget, (The Canal Square)
According to the artist, this is a sculpture "which is open to human contact and fellowship." Material: granite from the province of Bohuslän.

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

En öppen betraktelse av livet (An open view of life)

Pia König
Installed in 2023, Folkets park
Six meters high in stainless steel and fiberglass. Glossy and colorful, it lights up its place. See if you can find your reflection in the shiny leaves or wait for the wind to set the waving hand in motion. Pia König is an artist and teacher of sculpture. Pia König's sculptures are often based on everyday life and its objects. König lets lonely gloves sway in the wind, shapeless masses shine in seductive colors and lets us see everyday life with new concentration.

Owner: City of Trollhättan

Download the image of the sculpture here

 

 

Visionären (The Visionary)

Lena Flodman
Installed in 2023, Thyras park, Vårvik
“The visionary is the essence of Thyra Reuterwall's character and deed as I imagine it. She had visions of and commitment to many issues in Trollhättan where she also managed to implement major changes. It is illustrated with the pilot's helmet on the girl. She seemed to possess a special kind of courage which I illustrated with the girl's ascent of the rock where she reached the top. Thyra's family came to Trollhättan after an adventurous journey across Lake Vänern. Thyras Park is right by the river. The pattern on the globe that holds up the figure has been inspired by that journey with a texture of stylized waves. The globe also illustrates the many trips Thyra made.

The Visionary represents the vulnerable children for whom Thyra had strong compassion. A visionary has his sights set on a future. The children are all our future.” Artist Lena Flodman about the work.

Material: Aluminium
Owner: City of Trollhättan

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

Lanterna (Lantern)

David Svensson
Installed in 2024, Vårvik, Stridsbergs torg
Lanterna consists of a 6 meter high lantern sculpture in lacquered steel and glass, inspired by the cultural and industrial heritage of Vårvik. In the upper part of the lantern sculpture there is a circular steel structure, a hub with seven glass globes in different shades, which hook into the architecture and ornamentation of the industrial buildings. The hub floats and refers in a playful way to the flywheel inside the Martinverket, which was a prerequisite for the transmission of mechanical power. The circular shape also reappears in the arches, facades and window ornamentation in the historic buildings.

The artist's name is David Svensson, born in 1973 in Skillingaryd, living in Malmö, based on his own artistic expression he wanted to focus on the importance of light as part of the industrial heritage after Stridsbergs. Daylight was an indispensable component for the manufacture of the steel products, since there was no electric light from the beginning. Lanterna's glass globes will sparkle during the day in their shades like a reflection of the sky. When it gets dark, Lanterna lights up and becomes a warm point of light that leads us into the square and reminds us of both concrete light and an inner light.

Owner: City of Trollhättan

Download the image of the sculpture here

 

 

Kraftsamlare nr. 6 (Power Collector no. 6)

Ingemar Lolo Funck Andersson
Installed in 2016, Spikön
A sculpture to charge you with energy. Take a seat in the middle and let yourself be filled up with energy. The material is granite from the province of Bohuslän. There are another five Power Collectors in the western part of Sweden.

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

På väg (en Route)

Ann Carlsson Korneev
Installed in 2018, Spikön
The resting figure is made of Ekeberg’s marble and larvikite. The work is about our ability and need to communicate with different aspects within ourselves. Through dreams, meditation, and intuition we can broaden our consciousness and perceive our existence from different perspectives. The resting figure on its bed is "en route" to new thoughts, insights and dimensions. You are welcome to take a seat on the bed next to it.

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

Spegling (Reflection)

Märta Anderdott
Installed in 2019, Spikön
The group “Spegling” gives the viewer the feeling of movement, and children may even have the desire to play hide-and-seek between the “bodies.” The artist's description of the work: “Ancient time’s marble sculptures have great appeal in form and movement. I wanted to create such forms myself and thought of "The Three Graces" with their arms around each other, but my sculptures express a more desperate situation in the self-reflection - a desire for change.” Material: red granite from the province of Bohuslän.

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

Looking for the light

Viktor Korneev
Installed in 2014, Spikön
The sculpture in red granite from the province of Bohuslän depicts a figure that chooses the light and the good. The sculpture shows man as part of the universe, of nature, of a larger context. It is naked, human and universal without being defined by a specific identity or era. 

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

Infinity

Valery Yevdokimov
Installed in 2019, Spikön
An abstract polished granite sculpture that sprouts like a spring onion toward the light. Perhaps the name “infinity” can create a moment of reflection by the water.

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

Touch 

Viktor Korneev
Installed in 2009, in the waters at Malgön
A gesture of ease designed in a heavy material. The position of the foot expresses ease, and it touches a sculpted, polished water surface surrounded by real water. The size of the fragment creates a different scale. The artwork becomes one of man's imprints on his existence. Throughout history, people have come and gone. Material: granite from the province of Bohuslän.

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

SPIN

Eva Hilde
Installed in 2024, Malgön
SPIN is cast and welded aluminium. The surface is hammered and creates a matte texture in a light gray color that sparkles in sunlight. It is 250 centimeters high and has a depth of 150 centimeters. Eva Hild's sculpture describes water as a constantly recurring movement, water power as an endless resource in an eternal cycle. It is a sculpture that describes the movement of water in rivers and canals.

SPIN connects to the power of the Trollhättan waterfall and Göta River and tells about water eddies, currents, flows and spinning turbines. It can be seen from far away and when you get closer, you as an observer will marvel at how it tilts and moves just like the water next to it. It is upward and in a clear endless movement.

Owner: City of Trollhättan

Download the image of the sculpture here

 

 

Strömkarlen

Carl Eldh
Installed in 1911, Strömkarlsbron (The Strömkarl Bridge)
“Strömkarlen,” the granite head on Vattenfall’s regulating pond. It is also called "Näcken" (Neck – water spirit) because its connection to the creature who in Trollhättan was considered to be friendly but punished the ones who came to do mischief. “Strömkarlen” was made by Carl Eldh, according to the drawings by the architect Erik Josephson.

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

Ström (Current)

Ian Newbery
Installed in 2015, Strömkarlsbron (The Strömkarl Bridge)
The artwork was installed in time for the 100th anniversary celebration of Trollhättan becoming a city in 2016 located on Strömkarlsbron (The Strömkarl Bridge) with the flowing water and Hojum's power station as a backdrop. The artist about the making of the sculpture; “After visiting the place, I was taken by the drama in the water and the water swirls that are created in the rushing river. Spiral formations often occur in my art, so it became natural to try to reproduce the soft water movements in the hard granite. I also liked that the current in the river generates electric current a little further away in the power station”.

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

Vattnets ande (The spirit of the water)

Torgny Larsson
Installed in 2023, Kyrkbron
The spirit of water is placed in front of the swirling water and magical nature below Trollhättan's church. In the meeting between the wavy parts, an interesting design language is created. The sculpture is about 5 meters high including the stone plinth.

Material: Hard-rolled bronze sheet on a stainless steel frame
Owner Trollhättans Stad

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

Portal

Thomas Nordström
Installed in 2018, Gamle Dal
The artist's description of the work: "... a gate, door or lock between different levels or worlds, as an airlock in a spaceship or the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland.” The sculpture shines like a lantern when it is dark. Material: Corten steel.

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

Ur Berget (From the rock)

Dina Hviid
Installed in 2018, Gamle Dal
A two-meter-high sculpture in Portuguese marble emerges from the lush forest area in Gamle Dal. The artist's description of the work: “All stones have a story within them. Time, places, and violent events can be read in the color and structure of the stone. The sculptor adds yet another story."

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

Italienska nätter (Italian nights)

Lars Widenfalk
Installed in 2018, Gamle Dal
In a semicircle the seven figures look across the waters of Göta Älv. The artwork is created in granite and diabase. The plinths, which are made by the artist Lolo Funck Andersson, are also in granite.

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

Door and Canal

Hiroshi Koyama
Installed in 2011, Gamle Dal
The artist's program statement: "The presence of new time goes through the stone that is past time; the power of the stone fills my concrete world of imagination with limited time.” Material: diabase and Corten steel.

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

Albino Aid

Kent Karlsson
Installed in 2014, Innovatum District
A glass fiber sculpture depicting a white hare welcomes visitors into the Innovatum District and to Konsthallen Trollhättan (the Trollhättan Art Gallery). The artwork has previously been shown in Pilane Sculpture Park at Tjörn.

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

APEX

Pontus Ersbacken
Installed in 2019, Innovatum District
In Latin APEX means tip or peak. The artwork in stainless steel, with its foundation, measures close to eight meters. The artist about APEX: "The contrast between the old and the new is shaped by the rusting away of the foundation, from which a new force of stainless steel grows with an energy of colour and strength like an ancient dinosaur that has wings made of an alien organism from another dimension."

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

Florentine bus

Anna Bergman
Installed in 2023, Kanalbanken, Österlånggatan
A curvy location marker with color in the center marks the start of the popular Kanalbanken walkway. A sculpture that measures about 2.5 meters and consists of 16 wings. The name comes from the word for Latin flowering.

Material: Powder-coated aluminium

Download an image of the sculpture here. 

 

 

The City of Trollhättan is Investing in Art

Every year the City of Trollhättan invests in new art for the municipality's art collection and its common public space. It is important that art is made available to everyone, but also that it can mean different things to different people. Sometimes the works of art will create debate and become the topic around the coffee table. The art can either be loved or rejected.

Many of Trollhättan's public works of art can be found near the water on Kanaltorget, on Spikön, in the area surrounding the locks, as well as at the Innovatum District. The surroundings of the canal are well liked by the people of Trollhättan, its visitors, and the art.

Would you like to see more art? If so, pay a visit to Konsthallen Trollhättan. Information and opening hours: trollhattan.se/konsthallen (Swedish)

Photo: Anders Nicander

 

 

Roadmap

Get around The Sculpture Tour in the best way. Of course, you can take shortcuts or split the tour on different occasions.

Start on Karl Johan’s square, then take the street “Strandgatan” to the Canal Square. Cross the river over the railway bridge, follow the walkway on “Spikön” to the drawbridge where you cross over to “Malgöbron” and the fall area.

See the art at “Strömkarlsbron” before following the road “Åkersbergsvägen” to the church bridge and past “Insikten” and the playground. Turn right down the winding “Olidevägen” to the river and embark on the scenic path of “Kärlekens stig” to “Gamle Dal”. Here you can choose between two options; follow the road “Vassliden” to the top lock or take the walkway along the old lock gates.

Pass the lock to the east side of the canal. Follow “Åkerssjövägen” to the Innovatum District and turn right into the area where you find Saab Car Museum, Innovatum Science Center etc. Follow “Nohabgatan” north to the last works of art outside The Art Hall.

The best way back is to turn left directly after no. 17 and follow the "stone ravine" down to the canal and then the canal bank north back to the drawbridge.