If you take the Katarina pedestrian bridge from Mosebacke Square on Södermalm, you will arrive straight into the Ball, one of Swedish Brasseries’ newest restaurants in Stockholm. Upstairs, but with the same vast views of the town and Slussen’s eternal construction chaos, is the Gondola. There, a bit into the room, hang three paintings on a wall. Colors and designs from the paintings are reflected in both carpets and menus, and here you will also find traces of the legacy that forms the basis for the restaurant company’s love for art.

In the middle hangs the “Light Year Hall,” painted by Sven X: et Erixson in the late 1950s. It is a sketch of theater decor for Harry Martinson’s Versepo’s “Aniara,” which was set up at the Royal Opera in Stockholm on May 31, 1959. The X was like Slas and other cultural men in post-war Sweden with Tore Wretman, whose art interest was great and passionate.

There is a generation where everyone knows Tore Wretman, another who may have a better look at his restaurants. The housekeeper’s representative, gastronomin’s frontman, “The novice at the stove,” who 80 years ago bought Riche as a 29-year-old, who created the Theater Grill, took over the Opera Cellar and who acted inspiration for the founder of Swedish Brasseries PG Nilsson. Wretman adorned the walls at his restaurants with art, not least at the Opera Cellar.

– When the Opera Cellar was sold in 1976 and later in 1987, the guys who took over saw that there were a lot of beautiful works by the artists with whom Tore spent time. They lifted them down from the walls and sold most things, which paid for a large part of the deal. It has always painted PG that it became so. What the hell happened?

Calle Carboni has been the Art Manager at Swedish Brasseries for five years. He says that the loss created a drive at PG Nilsson—also his art lovers and collectors—to ensure that the guests got to experience art in the restaurant environments.

– Based on what happened to Tore’s art, the idea was that the art would almost be “built” into the restaurants. We have tried to do as Wretman though take it a step further. Now the damn will be stuck in the walls!

Carboni started working on Swedish Brasseries in the early 2000s. Bar Manager at Riche Then was Ben Loveless—now is a partner in Galerie Nordenhake—which ran many of the art initiatives that were initiated. Jockum Nordström’s illustrations became part of the interior and cover for the menus, art by Gunilla Klingberg, Jonas Nobel, and others soon appeared from the inside of toilet chairs to niches.

On relatively newly opened the Södermalm pubs Ball, Riche Fenix, and renovated the Gondola are works by acclaimed contemporary artists such as Joakim Ojanen and Nathalie Djurberg and his mountains. Wall in wall with the globe lies Bar Zeppelin, whose walls are occupied by a mural signed Marie-Louise Ekman. Permanent art is also available at Sturehof and Djurgårdskrogen Aira, where one of the largest print collections by the Sami artist Britta Marakatt-Labba takes place.

But it is not the permanent art that it is about now, but the exhibition program for which Carbon is responsible. Riche, Theater Grill, Klotet, and Riche Fenix have for some time acted remarkably active exhibition sites—between January and March, up to ten exhibitions take place in the pub environment, with artists such as Annèe Olofsson, Tova Mozard, Håkan Ramsin, and Lill-Marit Bugge.

The activity has its explanation: Carboni is probably alone in the Swedish restaurant world to have a full-time service that is about taking care of the art.

– During the pandemic, I came into contact with artists whose exhibitions at various museums and institutions were canceled. Since we could get to vernissages on the condition that people did not mingle around, we started.

A year ago, Carboni also pursued the one percent rule in Swedish Brasseries—an economic principle that means that one percent of the budget in new, renovation, and extensions of real estate and public environments is invested in art and artistic decoration.

– If we have art, we must be clear about how it should work. Now that it is stated that we are running on the one percent rule, the art venture feels even more cemented.

On the other side of Katarinahissen, a hill down from Mosebacke and oblique to the left over Götgatan is the gallery, the cafe, and the wine bar Crum Heaven. The late January afternoon when I meet Aleks Abens is both the cafe part facing the street and the gallery room packed with people. Abens is responsible for the exhibition operations and says that a tribal person has release for a cross-border project in the inner space.

– In the exhibition room, the art is replaced every two weeks. The hanging is self-organized in the way that the artists themselves row most with their exhibitions.

Abens opened a gallery here on Högbergsgatan almost nine years ago based on a desire to create the cultural meeting place he himself lacked. Three years ago he renovated the premises to combine the exhibition business with a cafe together with childhood friend Jacob Issa.

In May 2022, Crum Heaven opened with an interior completely created by Abens himself, with furniture and surface layers that make the whole place breathe a kind of contemporary craft design. His love for materials is noticeable in the many textile and ceramic works that are often included in the exhibitions.

– I was a little worried about the new opening for what the artists would think, to exhibit at a cafe is perhaps not really what you dream about. But I had a reputation from the previous business, and for me, it is mainly about creating a meeting place.

The cafe and bar part shows the collection exhibition “The start of your ending,” with artists such as Kristina Abelli Elander and Moa-Matilda Nilsson. The works are for sale, but since Aleks Abens self-proclaimed is a “lousy seller,” the cultural support he receives from Stockholm City is fundamental to the business. About five exhibitions are per year, supplemented with gigs and other events.

– I usually say that I want to see it as a mini culture house, says Aleks Abens.

An even fresher initiative, the nightclub Under the Bridge, which on February 1 started an investment in recurring art exhibitions in the club environment. Johanna Schneider is Creative Director and Marketing Manager at Under the Bridge:

– There is an idea that the club is just some kind of escape from reality, but it can also be one of the most rewarding experiences you are with. Imagine coming home from an evening where you both enjoyed good food, got a new favorite artist, and listened to new music. It would be fun to get the typical under the bridge club to come here a little earlier to look at art from another part of the world and then run on a bold party, she says.

During the bronze exhibitions will be replaced about four times a year and sit up one week at a time. The initiative began with Berghain photographer Mischa Fanghaenel and will continue later this spring with artist Niklas Hallman from Helsinki-based Post Bar.

To get the art working in a pub or club environment is not entirely obvious. The combination of nightclub environment and nightclub-related art is possibly easier to get than Crum Heaven’s and Swedish Brasseries’ wider approach. According to Calle Carboni, this is a mix of experience and the right attitude.

– to set a video work with full blast-Volume will not be good. You learn with experience, and a lot is about having fun. It is also grateful if the exhibitor has the right attitude – when we exhibited Iris Smeds at Taverna Brillo, she called the exhibition herself for a pub show. Since we can still never become a white cube where you can build an artist’s entire universe, such an attitude is quite comfortable.

At Crum Heaven, the art becomes so integrated into the environment that it may take weeks before a trunk sees that something has been replaced. Whether it is good or bad can be discussed, but the artists, Aleks Abens says, is often pleasantly surprised at how good their work is doing in place.

– There are no white walls here and the surface is smaller than in a regular gallery. At the same time, it is a place where you meet art without having to look for it yourself, art that you might not have met otherwise. There is great value in it too.