“That doesn’t look too hard”, I thought to myself as I watched the group of people being taught a traditional Swedish dance. Initially, I’d shied away from taking part in the class because I didn’t think my language skills were good enough to fully understand the instructions being given out. But then I heard phrases I recognised, and realised all I had to do was follow the other people and I would have been fine. Finally, I summoned up the courage and decided I would give it a try, only to be told that was the last dance class of the night.
It was all part of Kulturnatt, the night when Swedish galleries, museums and other important cultural institutions open up their doors with free entry. As I’d visited a number of these locations previously, I thought it was important to be strategic about which ones I visited. I chose the Swedish Radio concert hall (for obvious reasons) and the nearby Swedish Museum of National Antiquities (aka Historiska Museet).
The concert hall was pretty much what you would expect from a concert hall (so no surprises there). The music played covered a range of classical musical styles.
I was really blown away by the museum. They had a wonderful collection from the middle ages right through to contemporary life. “Hey, I had that mobile phone”, I told someone standing next to me. “Me too”, she told me with a laugh. I think both of us recognised life is moving on when items from your own life suddenly start turning up in museums.