21 June – 10 January 2027
On the day of the Summer Solstice, June 21st, The House of the Muses by the artist Ylva Snöfrid opens at Liljevalchs – a vibrant exhibition in the form of a Gesamtkunstverk.
The House of the Muses spans over thirteen galleries, where each room responds to either one of the Greek Mythology’s nine muses or to one of the four elements; earth, water, fire and air. Ceremonial rituals and festivities play a central role, inviting the visitors to actively unfold the exhibition during the nine months it is held at Liljevalchs.
In thirteen galleries, a universe emerges where painting, rituals and bodies coalesce, where the boundary between art and life is gradually dissolved, and where the institution and the spectators are made active parts of an ongoing transformation. The visitors are invited to write their own biographies, engage in festivities, move through spatial courses and become part of the unfolding Gesamtkunstverk.
The House of the Muses is also a collaboration with the director and actor Rebecka Hemse and The Royal Dramatic Theatre. On a number of occasions in the exhibition, actors from the ensemble of The Royal Dramatic Theatre will enact scenes from the world drama repertoire, as well as scenes from a manuscript written and edited by Ylva Snöfrid together with Rebecka Hemse.
I regard The House of the Muses as a communal spell centred on keeping the world and life itself anchored in the big questions; Why are we alive? How are we connected to others? What’s personal and what’s general in human life? In this Gesamtkunstverk, two of Sweden’s oldest cultural institutions partner up in an exploration of the questions that Ylva Snöfrid is asking, says Joanna Sandell Wright.
The House of the Muses is the most extensive presentation of Ylva Snöfrid’s practice up to date and spans 400 paintings, thousands of sketches and prints, specially crafted furniture and installations. Through painting and ceremonial rituals, she explores life and death, becoming as we know it along biographical and biological courses – birth, adolescence, love, reproduction, wisdom, dreams and death.
An exhibition catalogue in three parts is produced by the culture publication Nuda, following the progression of the Gesamtkunstverk, holding, among other things, multiples and the artist’s own deck of Tarot cards.
Ylva Snöfrid was born in 1974 and was admitted to the Royal Institute of Art as young as 18 years old. In 2017, she performed something she calls a “transmutation”, where Ylva became one with her twin soul “Snöfrid”. Ylva Snöfrid has been based in Stockholm, Berlin, New York and Athens and has exhibited extensively around the world.
The exhibition is curated by Joanna Sandell Wright, Director of Liljevalchs.
Photo: Märta Thisner
