Tag Archives: self-guided

Köping Museum’s Third Slow Art Day and Library Collaboration

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Köping Museum, a local art and history museum in the small central Swedish town of Köping, celebrated their third Slow Art Day by offering visitors a rich experience slow-looking at “Kedjad val” by P.G. Thelander and an exhibit featuring work by Tanja Ahola Rothmaier.

The event started with a guided session within Tanja Ahola Rothmaier’s exhibits, encouraging visitors to immerse themselves deeply in the viewing process. Following this guided experience, attendees participated in an art analysis exercise focusing specifically on the artwork “Kedjad val” by P.G. Thelander.

Thelander is known for his conceptual and often surrealistic art, frequently exploring themes of constraint, decision-making, and the interplay between freedom and limitation. The title, “Kedjad val” (translated as “Chained Choice”), suggests a commentary on the nature of choice.

Tanja Ahola Rothmaier’s exhibit. Photo provided by Köping Museum.
Slow looking setup for “Kedjad val” by P.G. Thelander. Photo provided by Köping Museum.

The session concluded with a relaxed group discussion over coffee, allowing participants to share insights and reflections on the artworks.

Coffee and art. Photo provided by Köping Museum.

Continuing their collaboration from the previous year, Köping’s local library also borrowed an artwork and provided instructional slow-looking cards, allowing library visitors to independently practice slow-looking.

You can download the instruction cards (in Swedish) below:

Instructions cardsDownload

We love the collaboration between the museum and the library, and thank Celly Paillet and the entire Köping Museum team for their thoughtful event. We eagerly look forward to what they come up with for Slow Art Day 2026.

– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl

P.S. Stay connected with Köping Museum via their Facebook and Instagram @visitkoping.

Concordia Emphasizes Self-Guided Looking and Film

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For their third Slow Art Day, Concordia in Enschede, Netherlands, created an experience that embraced independent reflection and cinematic viewing.

While the originally scheduled artist talk had to be canceled due to personal reasons of the artist, the team thoughtfully adapted the event. They provided seating within the gallery space so visitors could independently spend time quietly viewing the works on display. Concordia also published tips online about how to look slowly at art, which many guests reviewed ahead of their visit. Additional prompts at the venue helped guide individual reflection and deepen the viewing experience.

Promotional graphic for Concordia’s Slow Art Day. (Courtesy of Concordia)

To conclude the day, visitors were invited to a screening of The Mirror by filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky — a contemplative cinematic work that echoes the principles of Slow Art Day.

Photos from the exhibition:

Alexandra Leykauf – All together now, video. (Photo courtesy of Concordia)
Alexandra Leykauf – Drie Stenen II. (Photo courtesy of Concordia)
Sara Rajaei – Veronica and Chantur. (Photo courtesy of Concordia)

We at Slow Art Day HQ applaud Concordia for turning unexpected changes into an opportunity to highlight the power of self-guided reflection and film. We look forward to seeing what they do for Slow Art Day 2026.

– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl

P.S. You can follow Concordia on:

Sweden’s Nationalmuseum Inspires With a Full Day of Programs

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Slow Art Day 2023 is but 11 days away!

Meanwhile, more museums continue to register their plans with us including the Swedish Nationalmuseum with its inspiring (and first) full day of slow activities.

Under the direction of Johannes Mayer who coordinates the public events/programming for Nationalmuseum, the museum will start Slow Art Day with a slow yoga class amongst sculptures in the sculpture yard, in the morning at 8:30 am before the museum opens. Participants will be led by yoga teacher Victoria Winderud. The session ends with a fresh smoothie served in the café beneath.

Wow.

Then, once the museum opens young visitors (5-11 years old) will be invited to go on a slow looking tour of a handful of paintings in the collection, led by museum staff, between 10:30 and 11:15 pm. At 2pm, adults will be invited to go on their own slow looking tour.

But that’s not all.

There will also be an art-chill session at the beautiful Strömsalen (a large room with both paintings and sculptures), led by Sara Borgegård, Intendent Pedagogik for the museum (roughly – the “Superintendent of Pedagogy”) who will tell a saga based on one of the sculptures in the room.

Wait. There’s more.

All day long, the Nationalmuseum will offer what they are calling “drop-in art-chill” at the sculpture-hall/yard, where visitors can sit or lay down on a yoga-mat and listen to a pre-recorded art-chill session, slowly observing the beautiful room.

Finally, all visitors can borrow a slow-looking guide to explore and discover our works of art at their own slow pace.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

What a great design.

I hope this inspires other Slow Art Day museums and galleries.

And wherever you are, we hope you have a GOOD and Slow Art Day 2023.

Best,

Phyl and the Slow Art Day team

P.S. Remember to register your Slow Art Day with us so our volunteer team can write-up a report and feature you in our Annual Report, which has become the Bible of the slow looking movement.

P.P.S. If you need any of the host tools – logo for use in your print or digital efforts, and all of the past reports with their many tools, tips, and inspiring approaches – then go to the host tools section of our Slow Art Day website.