Mamma Mia – here we go again! ABBA The Museum opens in Stockholm in May and Your Living City has 2 tickets to give away to the opening day! This time, the winner really does take it all!
ABBA The museum – very much awaited by Stockholmers and international ABBA enthusiasts alike – opens on May 7th on the beautiful island of Djurgården, close to other landmarks like the fairground Gröna Lund and the open air museum Skansen.
The museum aims to offer an interactive journey through one of the biggest success stories in music history. Here the visitor will get close to the band by experiencing what it’s like to be the fifth member of ABBA, get on stage together with the other members, enter the Polar studio and see what he or she looks like in ABBA’s legendary costumes (a Dancing Queen?), and much more.
ABBA The Museum will also aim to make its exhibitions as interactive as possible. There is a self-playing piano linked up to Benny’s studio. If the visitor is lucky, the red light will flash and the piano (Benny) will start playing while he or she is there. The group’s first major hit, “Ring Ring” from 1973, is celebrated by a red telephone in the exhibition. Only four people in the entire world have the phone number…
‘The new museum will give a complete picture of the band, the music and the incredible success we experienced in the ‘70s and ‘80s, something that we haven’t been able to present until now. It will be like an experience-based music documentary that invites the visitor backstage as well as on and in front of the stage’
Björn Ulvaeus
A visit to the museum starts with a film by Jonas Åkerlund, shown in a 360 degree cinema room. The visitor will then go on to Gamleby Folkets Park, symbolizing the start of the members’ careers in the ‘60s. Via Brighton in 1974, the exhibition progresses to the song-writing cottage on the island of Viggsö, Stig Anderson’s office, Owe Sandström’s tailor studio, arenas around the world, Björn and Agnetha’s kitchen, and the legendary Polar studio.
Visitors will experience the exhibition through the audio guide, narrated by the band members and developed in collaboration with the writer of the Mamma Mia! manuscript, Catherine Johnson. Another fun ABBA fact is that the curator of the exhibition is the band’s former stylist, Ingmarie Halling. The project has been a close collaboration with the band and around 50 people are currently working round the clock to put the final pieces into place before the opening in May.
“I was there on the world tours and saw the work backstage as well as in front. There was hard work and an ordinary everyday life behind the success. We hope that we have created both a documentary and a spectacular music exhibition. We have a solid archive, to say the least; everything has been saved,” says Ingmarie Halling, exhibition manager at ABBA The Museum.
Abba legend Björn Ulvaeus also plays an active part in the day-to-day running of the museum, which is headed by MD Mattias Hansson.
We have randomly picked our winner for the Abba competition: Stuart Daniels is the lucky person to receive two tickets to the premiere opening! No losers standing small on YLC though – you can still buy tickets to the greatest new tourist attraction in Stockholm here; it doesn’t cost much money, money, money! Thanks to everyone who participated.
ABBA The Museum opens to the public on May 7th 2013 at Djurgårdsvägen 68, next to Gröna Lund on the scenic island of Djurgården in Stockholm. Tickets for ABBA The Museum are available now at www.abbathemuseum.com.
Opening hours
10 am to 8 pm (May – Aug)
Noon to 8 pm (Sep – April)
Tickets
Adults: 195 SEK
Children under the age of 8: 50 SEK
www.abbathemuseum.com
Street address
Djurgårdsvägen 68, Djurgården, 115 21 Stockholm
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