Kosta Konstrunda

Around the glassworks area at Kosta Glassworks there are several different works of art created by the glassworks' world-renowned artists. There is everything from classic glass art to beautiful cast iron and stately creations in stone. 

Artists that you will see during the tour are among others

• Bertil Vallien is one of Sweden's most famous designers and glass artists. As a designer, he is inspired by sketching a lot, where sketching creates its own world of inspiration - idea begets idea. He also finds inspiration in the glass itself - that it becomes a transparent container that reveals its contents and allows it to become part of the glass. Bertil also finds inspiration in functionality. In addition, contributing to creating work and keeping Kosta Glasbruk alive is a major driving force in his work.

  ”They are easily understandable symbols that stands for existential values. They invite poetic interpretations by the viewer."    Bertil Vallien

• Kjell Engman is a tireless glass artist with a boundless imagination and a love of storytelling that finds free expression in both utility and art glass. A former professional guitarist in the 1970s, Kjell Engman draws inspiration from the world of music. He also finds much inspiration from the animal kingdom. In his larger installations he uses elements such as sound and light. Kjell Engman is frequently hired for public decorations both nationally and internationally.
   

   

• Göran Wärff  is a much-loved designer and glass artist. He began his career in Pukeberg and since 1964 at Kosta Glassworks where he has designed many classics, such as the Rondo tableware glass. He has a number of public works, including the Sydney Opera House and the baptismal font in Växjö Cathedral. 
  Few have such a feeling for the glass mass as Göran Wärff, who has always safeguarded the classic mastery of glass blowing and grinding. The play of light in the clear glass volumes and the infinite optical phenomena that arise when the glass refracts the light is a recurring theme in Göran Wärff's productions. In addition to glass itself, nature, and the play of light in nature, is his other main source of inspiration.

   "The glowing mass of glass inside the furnace entice me to make discoveries. Every breath I take makes me want to convey the experiance of the magic of glass. To turn e piece of glass into a carrier of light, sea and air. I want to create a home for light, warmth and sensuality."    Göran Wärff

• Erik Höglund When Erik Höglund arrived at Boda Glassworks in 1953, no one could have imagined that the young, bold 21-year-old who had just graduated from Konstfack would change Boda's traditional glass production. It would be the beginning of a new era in Swedish glass history, which later also laid the foundation for the first studio glassworks in the United States.Erik Höglund has become known as one of our foremost glass designers, but he has also fascinated the world with his extensive work in painting, sculpture and forging. He has created more than 150 public decorations in Sweden and abroad. The film features photographer Stig T. Karlsson, who has followed Erik Höglund's work with his camera ever since his time at Boda, author Björn Ranelid, who wrote a book about Erik Höglund's long struggle with illness, "Mellan mörker och ljus", and author Reidar Jönsson, who wrote the book "Mitt liv som hund" where the artist in the book is in fact Erik Höglund.

  

   

• Vicke Lindstrand experimented in 1933 with mould-blown glass made at Orrefors. In 1936, Alvar Aalto also tried the same undulating design language in glass and in 1937 designed the famous Savoy vase, which became a mass-produced item. Vicke Lindstrand's glass series, which was the first, never achieved the same success for several reasons. Lindstrand developed several new techniques at Orrefors, including a new version of the Graal technique, which he called Mykene, and another technique called Ariel. The name Ariel was an obvious choice, as Lindstrand's wife at the time had appeared as the air spirit of that name in Shakespeare's play The Tempest.
   

  

   

• Lasse Brander was a renowned sculptor who has had numerous exhibitions in Europe such as Sweden, Switzerland, Holland, France and Norway. Several of his works remain in these countries today. Brander liked to sculpt in steel, granite and acrylic glass. He lived in Kosta during the 2000s.

Feel free to download our Kosta app and then use the QR codes found at each work of art. There you will find information about the artworks in both oral and written form.