Folio Dispatch

Hello friends!

It’s October, it’s officially fall, and we’re here for it.

Here’s what’s waiting in the 3rd edition of the Folio Dispatch. We hope you enjoy!

01 Folio Case: Copenhagen for art professionals
02 Friends of Folio: Sara Bäckbro
03 Short news: Discreet pleasures

How do you show Copenhagen to people who already know art and design inside out? For a group of museum associates from the US, we built a week around sharp curation, special access and a closer look at the city’s creative culture, from major institutions and architecture to studios, makers and 3daysofdesign.

See it here.

Cultural producer, connector and trusted collaborator on all things art. Sara Bäckbro works with Stockholm’s Saskia Neuman Gallery and is co-founder of Re:Publik, a new cultural association creating programmes at the intersection of art, place and audience. We’re delighted to welcome a true Friend of Folio to this month’s Dispatch.

01. Tell us a bit about Saskia Neuman Gallery. What’s your focus, and what can visitors look forward to in the next few months?

Saskia Neuman Gallery is a contemporary art gallery founded by Saskia Neuman in 2022. The gallery represents early- and mid-career Swedish and Nordic artists alongside a select group of internationally established artists. The programme is curatorially driven, with artists working across painting, sculpture, installation, and new media. 

This autumn marks a very exciting season for the gallery.. It began with a highly anticipated solo exhibition by Emma Jönsson, presenting a new body of work inspired by Parisian bathhouses. In October, the gallery presents the wonderful artist Jonas Nobel, with large-scale, colourful wooden sculptures alongside a suite of new paintings. Later in October, the gallery will participate in Artissima in Turin for the first time, presenting a new body of work by the remarkable Swedish painter Josef Jägnefält. For Stockholm Gallery Weekend in November, the gallery will present two solo exhibitions by Swedish artist Matti Hoffner and British artist Lily Hargreaves, running throughout December.

02. What’s has you excited on the Stockholm art scene right now?

Without a doubt, the independent initiatives across the city. Artist-run spaces and exhibition initiatives such as Antics, Beau Travail, Cues, Studio Tabac, Re:Publik, Korvfabriken, Farsta Galleri, Lucky Strike and MAD bring a lot of new perspectives and energy to Stockholm’s art scene. Among the institutional exhibitions, I’m particularly looking forward to Sara-Vide Ericson at Liljevalchs and ”Avund och Svartsjuka” at Konstnärshuset. 

03. If you could eradicate one misconception about viewing contemporary art, what would it be?

That you need a particular kind of education or expertise to experience and appreciate it.

04. When you take guests on private tours, is there a place you always bring them?

The gallery, of course. Beyond that, I always recommend a visit to Carl Eldh's Studio Museum, and the building St Görans Gymnasium, designed by Léonie Geisendorf – one of Stockholm's architectural treasures.

05. No trip to Stockholm is complete without a visit to…

The National Museum and Restaurant Pelikan.

06. Where did you go the last time you had a genuinely good night out in Stockholm?

Pat's Corner, Bar Libertin, and Stockholm Stadshotell. 

07. Is there a place in or around Stockholm you find yourself returning to?

The work Nocturne by Eugéne Jansson at Thielska Galleriet, Baggio for Coffee and Brinken Antique for strange things. 

We’ll stay in Stockholm for this segment. One of the city’s more discreet pleasures sits beneath Grand Hôtel. Their remarkable wine cellar can be booked for small private dinners and tastings. With room for just eight guests and upwards of 2,500 labels on the shelves, it’s a rather special setting for an intimate gathering, with menus from Verandan or Mathias Dahlgren’s restaurants.

If you’d like us to open the door, get in touch.