What comes around...

The Roundabout Hound

Slow news day in Luleå or what? Leading the Kuriren newspaper last Friday was a story about Luleå's first rondellhund - a cutout of a dog placed in a roundabout. And not just any roundabout, but the big almost-finished roundabout leading up to the center of town in front of the under-construction Konstens Hus performing arts center.

The background to this 'guerilla art movement' as described here is basically that in Linköping after a dog statue in its roundabout was vandalised and removed for repair, a replacement äppeared overnight. Then they started popping up all over the place, mostly for fun, but sometimes as a meaningful protest against the type of modern art taxpayers aren't always happy to support. It has spread all over Sweden, the dogs breed and roam around various roundabouts, and when removed, often reappear. Haparanda, way up north on the border of Finland, was Norbotten's first. And then it started breeding...

Reactions to the Lulea one were mixed. The question was asked though "in a democracy, who has the right to decorate our public spaces?". The Culture Secratary thought it was great; hoping that local youth were finding a way to express themselves in public spaces, because they won't have many ways to do that through the somewhat elitist Kulture House. The head of the roads agency things its just harmless fun so as of Fri had no plans to remove it. The roundabout and the kulture house are a still construction site so it's hardly distracting. (Pic and info from kuriren.se).

All this fuss over a piece of plyboard and a stick.