Medelhavsmuseet - Press

There is now an antique treasure in a unique architectural environment right in the heart of Stockholm.

The new AG Leventis Gallery for Cypriote Antiquities in the central hall is praised for “its successful architectural storytelling” in a recent review by former professor at “Konstfack” in Stockholm, Tom Hedqvist, in “Forum. Magazine for Scandinavian Architecture, Interiors and Design” (no. 3/2009, 122).
The gallery has also been selected as one of the most important buildings out of 400 over 800 years in the “The Complete Guide to Architecture in Stockholm” (updated edition 2009, 336), due to its “mise-en-scène” with “eight green-winking-triangular prisms” and “adroit use of mirrors” which “makes for a powerful visual impact”.

The Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities - Medelhavsmuseet is located at Fredsgatan 2, near Gustav Adolfs Torg with neighbours such as the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Royal Swedish Opera and the Royal Palace.

At the Museum’s new exhibition visitors step right into an antique cult setting re-created with thousands of terracotta statues from the island of the gods – Cyprus. The Museum’s Cypriot collections are among the largest in the world, outside Cyprus, and highlight the importance of the island as a meeting point in the Eastern Mediterranean. The exhibition recounts 7000 years of history in a place which, owing to its strategic location, was destined to become a melting pot for several different cultures – a place where East meets West. Most of the items in the exhibition were discovered at several sites excavated by the Swedish Cyprus Expedition of 1927 - 1931.

Modern design meets classic antiquity
The new exhibition was designed by Mattias Lind and Kristoffer Jonsson of White Architects, one of Sweden’s leading firms of architects. The exhibition comprises a number of wedge-shaped blocks rising up in the glazed
inner courtyard inside the building which was erected in 1905 and inspired by a Renaissance palace in Bologna, Italy. In the restaurant and cafeteria visitors can enjoy a meze, a glass of wine or an espresso while enjoying a superb view of the exhibition and the Royal Palace.


For press photos of the exhibition, please contact Andreas Lundell andreas.lundell@smvk.se or on +46 70 316 72 34