2025-05-01

Now it's done, we take over the neighboring property and thus the factory area becomes whole again.

During the rebuilding of Mellösaverken, it became clear early on that the parceling out had not been done in a way that was understandable to you visitors. Countless times we have had to go and give instructions on where you can and cannot park. Now we have control over the entire area and can create conditions for even more activities and visitors. Not least our meeting room will feel very good that you can come more without too much trouble.

Thoughts are now swirling and plans are being written, revised and torn up on an assembly line. Right now we will not communicate much about what all this may mean but hold on, it will come. And if you are looking for premises, now is a good time to get in touch!

2025-04-25

We are very excited to be one of 10 projects selected by Leader Södermanland to represent Creative Countryside. In our case, it will be about repairing things. Things in textiles, in metal, in wood, in plastic.

Over the years, we at Mellösaverken have repaired a lot of things that you wouldn't have thought of at first glance, and we've realized that it's all about self-confidence, having a small toolbox and looking for solutions. If we share the toolbox and also give each other good advice along the way, well then you can start fixing more stuff and you have fun in the meantime.

That's how we think, so this fall it will be "Samverkstad" here at Mellösaverken. 8 Sundays with lots of coffee. More information will come after the summer. Many thanks to both Leader Södermanland and the EU!

2025-04-03

In her application for the residency grant at Mellösaverken, Jessica describes how important it is for her to change her environment from time to time. "I can't ignore how I build my sculptures; how I tie, weave and sew experiences into my works and how time and context shape them. Sometimes changing my workplace is necessary for my development. I need a temporary change, to get lost in an unknown forest, a different ceiling height and new impressions to see more clearly."

We are happy to be that place and are very much looking forward to seeing a new sculptural work take shape in the space we call Tumstocken.

Hopefully we will somehow be able to show the public what Jessica's weeks at Mellösaverken look like. Welcome in September 2025!

2025-03-14

Our collaboration with the Arts and Crafts Center is in its third year. Every year it is just as fun to go through the applications that have come in. And just as difficult to choose who we think will have the best exchange of spending 2 weeks at Mellösaverken.

You can apply if you are a member of Konsthantverkscentrum, you can choose between two periods and the scholarship consists of accommodation and our large room Tumstocken for 2 weeks and a travel grant.

We very much look forward to your application. To find out more about the eminent center KHVC and its more than 800 members (!), click on the button below.

2025-02-17

DOTDOTDOT invites you to a seminar during the exhibition period of their last exhibition Can´t See Wood at Heleneborg Ateljé in Stockholm.

Åsa Lockner will participate in a panel discussion on how, where and why art is made possible - i.e. exhibition productions, artist-run platforms and other relevant projects.

Other participants in the panel are Magnus Ericson, program manager for IASPIS on the form side and Linus Ersson, who has facilitated through exhibitions and artist interventions.

DOTDOTDOT sees great dangers in the uniformity that is spreading - just as in a forest without diversity, vulnerability increases when differences are crowded out. The ideas behind the exhibition are topics that we at Mellösaverken see a need to engage with even more.

"A forest rich in biodiversity is resilient and strong. We are painfully aware of the threats that culture and art in Sweden are currently facing, and the artists who make up our forest clearly show that art and culture cannot be squeezed into a uniform ideal. The beauty and strength lies precisely in the lack of uniformity."

2025-02-04

Bukowskis and David Taylor present SPECIAL EFFECTS - an exhibition and online auction of unique design objects during Stockholm Design Week. The exhibition consists of 25 exclusive objects created by Scottish designer and craftsman David Taylor in his signature material aluminum. The objects explore David Taylor's multidisciplinary approach, design language and material palette, with a focus on craftsmanship and ornamentation.

Viewing: February 4-7, Berzelii Park 1, Stockholm. Open at 11-17.

Online auction: January 31 - February 9

2025-01-15

Today Konsthantverkspodden releases an episode about Mellösaverken. It was a cold winter day that Petter Rhodiner and Ida Netterberg were here and interviewed Åsa Lockner.

It was like a walk through the project "to build up Mellösaverken". We looked at both construction processes and the way in which Åsa believes that her practice can take up more and broader space in the countryside than in the city. She wants to inspire more people to act outside the metropolitan context and believes that there is much to be gained by acting in contexts where more people are multi-skilled and where it is more obvious that we need each other.

2025-10-28

Do you dream of moving your business to the countryside? Now we have the opportunity to offer a fantastic room in Mellösaverken. It is about 100 sqm with large windows, private entrance, two rooms, kitchenette and bathroom. The rent is 5800, - + VAT. Electricity is added.

Mellösaverken is located on the outskirts of the community Mellösa and offers proximity to forest and lake. We have a very good school (f-6) in the village, an "always open" shop, café with fantastic coffee, pizzeria and very nice atmosphere. Stockholm can be reached by train from Flen (5 min away) in 55 minutes. Absolutely possible to commute to/from also Nyköping, Norrköping, Eskilstuna etc. 

We welcome many different types of activities, but would be especially happy for colleagues in art, crafts, crafts and design. Please contact us for more information and pictures/drawings as well as discussions about possible housing needs. 

2024-09-10

This year Sörmland is hosting Konstdygnet, an annual conference organized by Region Sörmland/Sörmlands museum, Region Västmanland, Region Uppsala, Region Örebro län, Folkrörelsernas Konstfrämjande, Riksförbundet Sveriges Konstföreningar. 12-13 September it takes place.

Mellösaverken was a major contributing factor to Konstdygnet packing up the conference and heading to Mellösa and Hälleforsnäs on the morning of the second day. We really want to work like that, to highlight our very close local community. More people here means more work for our colleagues in the restaurant, bakery and catering businesses, etc. It also means more opportunities for people to open their eyes to our amazingly beautiful place on earth, which can provide an interesting flow of new neighbors into the municipality.

The title of this year's conference is borrowed from the report on the cultural cooperation model, Kultursamhället (2023). It proposes a more effective cultural policy through improved collaboration between different public actors. As sectors of society change, the arts face new challenges, but also opportunities. What will the Arts Society look like? How do we organize ourselves?

In recent years, more and more artists have left the traditional urban art scenes and moved to rural areas. This raises questions about how the geographical spread of art can affect the interest of municipalities and regions, especially in light of the transition towards a sustainable society. During this year's Art Days, you will get an insight into projects and activities that work actively to lift and "rethink" a place - a castle, a former ruler factory, a bank premises, a playground, a coal house and a landfill.

2024-09-09

Now that we have gotten used to receiving guests, it felt very natural to initiate a knowledge- and experience-sharing activity with a colleague we have not previously dealt with. Welcome Elin Flognman!

It is so easy to get stuck in your own generation of practitioners and Elin, who attended HDK and took her Master in 2013 represents in some sense a completely different view of the jewelry art. She has a wide network of contacts in Europe and we were curious about how she sees her business. It was a fantastic week that I think we all carry with us.

As the picture illustrates, Elin works with the area of "adorning oneself" in more ways than making oneself look good. Hiding oneself, or one's vulnerability, behind jewelry, clothes or other attributes is quite common, but this was an exciting project that had straw at the center. The result was this amazing straw balaclava.

Thanks to the European Craft Alliance for supporting travel and accommodation!

2025-10-01
Kerstin Neumüller at Svensk Form during Craft Week 2024

A typical win-win signed Mellösaverken. Åsa Lockner is a member of Svensk Form's board and heard that Svensk Form was looking for an event that could fit Craft Week in the fine premises on Skeppsholmen and when she came home to Mellösa, it turned out that Kerstin Neumüller, who rents premises at Mellösaverken, was looking for a suitable place to have a release of the new book Laga med Sashiko. So on October 4 there will be a book release and course.

Kerstin's courses always sell out quickly and so does Takao Momiyama's. Hurry up and grab a seat! https://stockholmcraftweek.se/https://svenskform.se/

2025-08-25

Mellösaverken HEADSPACE is proud to welcome Canadian textile artist Meghan Price to our small scale Artist in residence program this summer. Thanks to IASPIS, the Swedish Arts Council and Sörmlands Region, we have been able to make an extensive program where we invited both the public and practitioners to various activities with Meghan's artistry in focus.

Now the focus is on the basis of creation, ideas, desire and an exchange of energy. "Excursion; rocking stone", is a forest walk to Vaggande stenen and to Stöttasten, both near Hälleforsnäs. The hike is led by forest expert, food innovator and chemical engineer Lena Engelmark Embertsén from Högtorp farm.

A number of textile artists, residency organizers, representatives from IASPIS and Konsthantverkscentrum and others met up for a shared experience.

The activity ended at Mellösaverken with a studio visit to Meghan and dinner together. This is what we carry with us.

2024-08-10

We are collaborating with Sörmland Museum and the region to host Meghan Price. This includes, of course, letting an audience and colleagues take part in Meghan's work and thoughts behind it. What better way than to use Sörmlands Museum's excellent facilities and let Meghan give a talk there. August 14th!

Free of charge. Drop in/no pre-booking.

2024-08-01

"What makes you tick?" a conversation about driving forces at Mellösaverken on Sunday, August 11 at 15:00 in the room Tumstocken. Over a cup of coffee, we talk about our respective driving forces; for a job, an interest or something else in life. What motivates and drives you? Co-organizer of the activity is Mellösa Bygderåd, which regularly holds events with the title "Fika och prat".

We are pleased to welcome textile artist Meghan Price as a guest in our Artist in Residence program Mellösaverken Headspace in the summer of 2024. Read more about Meghan here https://www.meghanprice.com/

The conversation is in English and is part of Mellösaverkens program where we in different ways let Meghan meet our world (and you to meet her). Other parts include e.g. a presentation of her work at Sörmlands museum on August 14. For the full program, please contact us!

The stay and the program are carried out with the support of IASPIS, the Swedish Arts Council and Region Sörmland.

The event is illustrated by "METAMORPHIC", a work by Meghan Price

2024-07-17

We don't think everyone has realized what a huge truck it is that will be bringing fire extinguishers down to Ukraine in our next round. So here it is! Tada! 

No wonder it costs a pretty penny to drive it up and down? Help for Poltava in Ukraine is the grassroots movement we are part of that carries out these transports. 

Many thanks to Oleksander who drives this giant all the way from Ukraine and back. Many heroes in this equation. Persson Gunita who rows the ship so meritoriously, all of you around here who support in various ways and Presto who donated 19 tons of fire extinguishers. How many fire extinguishers that is, you can google yourself.

2024-07-16

We welcome this year's residency grant holder through KONSTHANTVERKSCENTRUM;

Beatrice Alvestad Lopez

In her artistic practice, Beatrice Alvestad Lopez is interested in place, narrative and materiality in combination with performance, craft and installation. She works sculpturally with site-specific projects and strives to make her art a place where myths and environmental scenarios emerge. Alvestad Lopez has exhibited in Sweden and internationally, most recently at Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall, Röhsska Museet and K-U-K Galleri.

2024-07-05

There is so much drive and good ideas here in Mellösa. We can really recommend both visiting and living here. To showcase all that the village has to offer, this year Mellösa Bygderåd has launched a week where both established activities and new ones are included in the same week. Here at Mellösaverken there will be both an exhibition of felting and painting as well as a historical tour of Mellösaverken as a place. It is our wonderful neighbor Sten Jonson who knows everything worth knowing about this place. Don't miss it! July 15 at 17.00

2024-07-01

What would summer be without guests? This year, we are very proud to be able to attract a recent graduate who wants to do an internship. Anouk is coming to us with the help of Erasmus+, an EU program that aims to help us learn more about and from each other with education, youth and sport as the key words. We'll cover the first two and then Anouk can do the sports herself. Swimming in the lake?

2024-06-24

Inspiration trip no. 10 in this huge event signed Hela Sverige ska leva and with participants from all over the country went to Mellösaverken, among others.

The theme was Housing and housing developers in rural areas. We have slipped into being just that a bit on a banana peel but have learned a lot on our journey that we are happy to share. A busload of people left with a little more knowledge about the difficulties and opportunities of such projects. Many of the participants were probably from the planning and construction side themselves within, for example, the municipality, so they certainly already had knowledge, but there were many who expressed that it was valuable to have input from the "other side".

2024-06-05

Last Sunday we had the pleasure of welcoming a fantastic group from the International Design Expedition. The one and only Ewa Kumlin was coordinating an expedition to Sörmland and we were able to welcome the whole group and a number of interested people. There was a ceramics and glass exhibition combined with fantastic tastes of Sörmland, prepared by Marc Bretillot together with the wonderful Maria Printz.

So good, so nice and so nice to see our premises transformed into a place for mingling, food, ceramics and people. Everything we want to see more of!

2024-05-30

In a fire pond behind us Åsa Lockner Contemporary Jewellery has long nurtured a dream of placing a sculpture. The industrial-style portal becomes a visualization of the small water mirror which, together with the surrounding vegetation, forms almost like a small stage. With the newly constructed path running alongside, the experience becomes both very accessible and easy to absorb for those who walk past.

Thanks to Flens municipality who grantedpermission to use the site for a limited time. And thanks to Region Sörmland for the cultural voucherthat made the work possible

2024-05-23

Homework, usually done by women, which involved preparing and putting together the locks (the ones between the wooden parts of a thumb stick) is something we've been hearing about since we arrived here. Last week we finally got to see such a "lock box"!

This and much more has now ended up in the collections of Sörmlands museum thanks to our neighbor Sten Jonson. It is a pleasure to end up in a place with such a rich history and a person present who can share it. In a way that also gives us so much more in terms of comfort and security! Thank you Sten for being who you are and thank you to Sörmlands museum for doing this collection. It will be very fun to see this take place in your fine premises in Nyköping!

2024-05-13

Many thanks to everyone who came to Natalia's presentation at Kolhuset yesterday. We are so happy to be able to showcase our visiting artists and a place like Kolhuset also feels just right to activate for this kind of gathering. Several good ideas for the future emerged when parts of the board of Konstfrämjandet Kraft took the opportunity to have an inspirational meeting after the film screening.

Link to Natalia Nikulenkova's movie in the button below. It describes the time she and several other artists spent in a mental hospital as Artist in Residence and deals with 4 inmates' dreams of the future.

Natalia has been able to spend three months with us with the support of SWAN - Swedish Artist Residency Network. Many thanks for that! And thank you to Martin Rogberg for invaluable technology lending and help, thank you to Konstfrämjandet Kraft for co-organizing and thank you to Kulturenheten Flen for the venue.

2024-05-07

As part of the European Artistic Crafts Days 2024 event, we are opening up our various studios at Mellösaverken.

14.00 - 15.00 Visitors are welcome to visit Kerstin Neumüller, Åsa Pärson, Åsa Lockner and David Taylor for one hour. The café is open 14.00 - 16.00 and there you will also meet our Artist in Residence Natalia Nikulenkova who will show her film.

Thank you to the European crafts alliance for your support in making this happen and what a fun program of activities across Europe!

2024-04-10

For the second time, the Konsthantverkscentrum is now announcing a residence scholarship at Mellösaverken HEADSPACE. You need to be a member of the center to apply and the scholarship gives you access to our large fine room Tumstocken 100 sqm and an accommodation for two weeks. Perfect for those who have a finished project that is space-consuming to implement or for those who need time to get started with something new. We make no demands on you who come but would like you to participate in some way in letting art and crafts take place here in Mellösa.