Despite the title of this exhibition – Contemporary Art from Sweden – it was a joint venture, displaying artworks by no less than eighteen Japanese and fourteen Swedish artists. On Monday, we gathered for the hanging at Red Brick Warehouse on the Yokohama waterfront. This is the result, or at least a fair portion of it – please note the mixture of distinctly different cultures; Expressionism, Pop Art, Modernism, Classicism…

left: Taeko Ukon, Mitsuharu Miyake and Håkan Wennström (video)
middle: Toshiko Watanabe and Kerstin Svanberg
right: Shoko Miki, Cecilia Lindborg and Hitomi Iwano

Kersti Rågfelt Strandberg and Ito Chihiro

left: Helena Hildur W; right: Shizuko Ono and Jan Manker

Kira Malmsten

…and then, again, this happy mixture at the opening: after the opening speech by minister Ulf Sörmark from the Swedish embassy, Swedish folk music was performed on traditional instruments by Japanese kids having learned from Youtube how to play them. And a kimono-clad lady inviting everyone to dance the polska.