In a remote industrial area in the nature reserve of Rågsved, you do not expect to find colourful walls exploding with graffiti. But this is exactly what you will find at Snösätra Graffiti Wall of Fame. Well worth the metro ride from Stockholm city centre, this is the place for all art and/or graffiti lovers and artists. Or simply for those looking for a nice half-day trip to the suburbs.
Update September 2020: it is with great sorrow that we inform you that Snösätra Graffiti Wall of Fame is being partly demolished as we write. As the area borders to a national reserve, politicians have decided that parts of the graffiti park should be incorporated into the reserve. This means that numerous buildings and walls with graffiti will be destroyed. Here is a clip of one of our favourite paintings being smashed. It honestly makes my eyes water. So, so sad.
The green metro line no. 19 from T-centralen towards Hagsätra takes twenty minutes to Rågsved. Turn left when exiting the metro station and walk straight ahead for about twenty minutes. There are no signs to Snösätra Graffiti Wall of Fame, but you can find a map of the area here.
Snösätra Graffiti Wall of Fame is truly a cool place. The colours jump at you from the walls. The contrasts between the grey concrete walls and the expressive graffiti paintings in an industrial area in the middle of the forest is quite unique. Housing mainly construction and recycling businesses, Snösätra became a centre for street art and graffiti in 2014. It all started with a few paintings, but soon all property owners wanted their own walls painted. From there it developed into this huge area of street art in the middle of a nature reserve.
Through an open door, we enter the area of open walls, i.e. walls open for anyone to paint. This gloriously sunny winter’s day, people of all ages have found their way to Snösätra. Some are, like us, just here to watch, and some are here to create art, refine their graffiti skills or just hang out with friends and graffiti artists.
When photographing a seriously cool painting of Twisty the Clown from American Horror Story, the artist himself comes up and chats with us. Tomas Sundstrand has several pieces of graffiti on the open walls. His work can also be found on Instagram and Facebook. Twisty the clown has had a life-span of three months, but some paintings are painted over the very next day, Tomas says. The walls are living and always changing like that.
Some walls have graffiti paintings that seem more permanent. Like the one at the entrance of Greta Thunberg depicted as Pippi Longstocking. Perhaps she will be gone in a year or two, but today she is highly current.
Even more so, the painting below is truly a sign of the times. The coronavirus pandemic is hot stuff when we are visiting. The graffiti artist dies with the spray can on his stomach, flipping the world off as it seems.
We are having such a great time at Snösätra Graffiti Wall of Fame. Why have we not been here before? It’s been alive and kicking since 2014. Well, better late than never.
At the end of the street, there is a sign that says Strålande Tider, in translation: Brilliant Times. It’s a café and a second-hand shop. The owner, Percy Michelsson, has however run out of coffee today. He is the enthusiast of Snösätra and has been here for 12 years, arranging, among other things, rave parties. He is also one of the local culture profiles that have been asked to file a citizen proposal for the future of Snösätra.
Since 2017 there are plans to turn Snösätra into a residential area. This would certainly be a blow not only to Snösätra, but also the other subcultures that dwell in the area around Rågsved and Högdalen, such as the cultural movement of Cyklopen and the skate park Highvalley Skateworld. But in light of the area recently being turned into a nature reserve, it seems that these plans will not be realised. Hopefully, Snösätra will be a place for culture, people and meetings for years to come.
Interested in more graffiti? When visiting Minsk, we discovered some amazing street art!
