Värmland's museum of art

Since I had the leadership course in Karlstad today I took the chance to see my grandmother and to visit some exhibitions at Värmland's museum of art. 

At the entrance we met Stenen who manage the art gallery and art shop Konstgruvan, and he informed us about their next exhibition. I got a poster with me to help spreading the word :) Vernissage this weekend, don't miss it (I'll be in Eskilstuna, you have to see it for me!).

One of the temporary exhibitions at Värmlands Museum of Art showcases the living condition of male prostitutes and transvestites in Tenderloin, San Francisco.  The photographer Hannah Modigh writes that none of the people in the photos have a permanent address. All of them take drugs and most of them sell sex and have HIV. They've come to San Francisco because the city is known to be more open and welcoming than other cities in the US and homosexuals go there in the hope of a creating a better life.

This exhibition shows a reality we normally never see. It is very strong and naked and the most impressing thing is that the photographer has gotten the chance to come these people so close. 

Moa Karlberg also had a great exhibition. Not so much for the photos as for the texts. She has photographed apartments and houses in Sweden where innocent girls have been kept hostage and forced to prostitution. You might not think that these kinds of things happen in my country or my town but they do. 


Here comes two of the horror stories:
An underage girl is forced to take on 17 customers a day during trips between Romania and the south of Sweden. Her pimp controls her every move, he hits her and he also makes her pregnant three times. 

A 17 year old girl is kidnapped from Kosovo and is forced to have sex with different men in Sweden. Her pimp is believed to have smuggled over 2000 people over the years; both sex slaves and illegal refugees.

For the sports nerd, the museum also hosts an exhibition with soccer shirts. I think it is great that the museum wants to appeal to all sorts of visitors and in one sense soccer can be seen as culture, but I honestly just passed by this one very quickly, I prefer real art (or a real game) :) 

Long day today, I came home about one hour ago and tomorrow I'll start early again. In the morning I'm going to pass by the place where I am going to teach Spanish, then I have a ton of other things to do too. I'll give you a better update tomorrow. Until then, sleep tight :)