On this particular day, the scaffolding is to be demolished – without dropping any part that could harm a stuffed moose. Bruno Liljefor’s murals at the Biological Museum are a Swedish art treasure of 1,000 square meters and the largest work he did. The conservators are gluing each color flake separately – a job that will soon be finished.
The museum, which turns 130 this autumn, was built in just one year and on the private initiative of the conservator and amateur zoologist Gustaf Kolthoff. He wanted to place the Stockholmers in the wild and got his friend and hunting companion Bruno Liljefors to do a horse job for the price of friendship.
— Bruno pitched perhaps a little too cheaply, there is a letter where he writes about how awful it was. In the summer of 1893, he went around painting with large brooms on bamboo sticks. He had Gustaf Fjæstad as an assistant who himself became a recognized artist, says Staffan Hansing, building antiquarian at Skansen.
After the restoration of the paintings, the now grey-brown moss will be replaced with new green. The approximately 1,000 stuffed animals are to be cleaned and the trees are to be given green needles and leaves. However, electric light should not be installed in the so-called diorama in the upper part of the building, which cannot be insulated and heated, emphasizes Staffan Hansing. The biological museum thus remains something of a time machine.
In 2017, Skansen closed the museum because the skylights were leaking. These are now renovated and replaced with glass windows more like the original than the windows that were put in in the 1970s.
Liljefor’s sky and the constructed nature are illuminated via the large skylights whose leakage forced a closure in 2017. It rained and the window renovation was also the first and most urgent measure. The natural light is the coolest thing about the entire round exhibition room, thinks Staffan Hansing.
— When the sun travels in the sky, this is reflected, you can see how the paintings are adapted to the daylight. The experience varies depending on when you are here.
TT: Can the round room be seen as a kind of analogue predecessor to the cinema Cosmonova at the National Museum of Natural History?
— Yes, and a little better!
“We will open it,” says Yvonne Nordlind, acting CEO of Skansen, who will seek external funding for the renovation.
The biological museum is a unique combination of art, nature and culture, emphasizes Yvonne Nordlind, acting CEO of Skansen, who has owned the museum since 1970. The educational potential is still “very large”, she emphasizes.
— We want to preserve the house, as it looks, but hope to work a little more with contemporary modern exhibitions. We are very involved in the work with biological diversity and species conservation.
The price tag for the renovation could land anywhere between SEK 50 and 100 million, estimates Staffan Hansing. Skansen has not received any additional funding and needs to seek external funding. Next, a major renovation of the tarred chipboard facade awaits, which also requires craftsmanship. A new heating system is also needed. Yvonne Nordlind can imagine the museum opening gradually.
“Perhaps a three-year period remains before we can fully open.” But we’re going to open it, it’s been closed for too long and it’s a shame for a building like this. It is a fun project and the interest is huge. Many want to come back.
The museum’s diorama must be preserved with only natural light. On the ground floor, Skansen manager Yvonne Nordlind hopes to supplement with more modern exhibitions about biodiversity.