Photography fans watch out! A new hotspot for photographic art is emerging in southern Sweden: Landskrona in the province of Skåne. The city has only 30,000 inhabitants, but plenty of space for a large-format exhibition concept. Every two years in September, the city on the Öresund is transformed into a stage for photographic art in public spaces.
From September 6 to 22, 2024, it was that time again: international photography shaped the cityscape. Parks, squares, gardens, museums and exhibition spaces became a stage for established photo artists and up-and-coming talent.
Think Big! One city, one motto
Landskrona’s eventful history provides plenty of room for art today. Although the town was founded in 1413, no medieval buildings remain. Due to its strategically important location, Landskrona often came into armed conflict with its neighbor Denmark. The imposing citadel rises to the west of the city center. The bright red bulwark, a protection against attacks from the sea, is one of the best-preserved Scandinavian fortresses of the 16th century. For the festival, the former women’s prison in the mighty round tower opens its heavy wooden doors and becomes the setting for a fascinating spatial installation by Greta Alfaro.
Art instead of cannons
From the middle of the 18th century, the city began to be transformed into a huge fortress and the city center was initially rebuilt. However, construction of the fortifications was abandoned in 1788. A famous non-violence sculpture by Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd stands in the city center as a counterweight to the military remains. The revolver with the knot in the barrel is world-famous. Reuterswärd created the first sculpture in 1980 as a reaction to the murder of his friend John Lennon. The Landskrona Museum received over 200 works by Reuterswärd as a donation. They are part of a permanent exhibition on the theme of non-violence.
The meeting point of photography
Landskrona is striving to become the center for photography in Scandinavia with the cultural project Landskrona Foto. Tradition and experimentation are to meet here. The aim is to promote people’s understanding of photography and its social value. This is achieved when festival visitors actively participate in creating photos or when an expressive artist such as Greta Alfaro guides visitors through her three photo installations in the citadel.
After the festival is before the festival
A year without a festival does not mean the absence of photographic art in Landskrona. Even in the two years between the festivals, there are exhibitions, artists in residence projects and photo art in public spaces. The next Landskrona Photo Festival will take place from September 4 to 20, 2026. Photography fans can keep up to date with news from the new home for photography in Scandinavia via newsletter.
More Sweden Stories
Landskrona in the province of Skåne offers nature and culture. The world-famous writer Selma Lagerlöf wrote her first novel here. The Landskrona Photo Festival showcases the old fortress town every two years. Just opposite Landskrona is the Öresund island of Ven, a very popular excursion destination. The Stockholm Metro is considered the longest art exhibition in the world and every year in December is Nobel Prize Week. The Swedish city of Uppsala, 80 kilometres north of Stockholm, is one of the most important in the country. Many centuries before Stockholm was mentioned as a small trading post, Uppsala was the pagan centre of the Vikings. We report on cult and culture in Gamla-Uppsala and on the entertaining messages of the Swedish rune stones and reveal Stockholm’s secret eye-catchers.
The research was supported by Visit Landskrona
