Meditation Room

Meditation Room opens the next artistic program (2024-2026) at Konsthall C, Sacred Spaces, where artists reflect on spirituality, address questions of religion and society, and experiment with occultism. 

Reimagined at Konsthall C, the original Meditation Room, which first opened in 1952 at the United Nations headquarters in New York, aspired to serve as a multi-faith, room of quiet for contemplative, spiritual reflection in the vision of an ideal, peaceful, “new world order.” 

The room was initiated by Wallace K. Harrison, chief architect of the UN, and renovated by Dag Hammarskjöld, former secretary general of the UN, who redesigned the space to adhere to his vision of internationalism for the twentieth century. 

In 1957, the Meditation room reopened with an abstract, in situ fresco produced by artist Bo Beskow, a 6-tonne iron ore stone altar donated by the Swedish monarchy, and benches produced by designer Carl Malmsten.

Hammarskjöld wrote of the Meditation Room: 

“The stone in the middle of the room reminds us also of the firm and permanent in a world of movement and change…Of iron, man has forged his swords, of iron he has also made his plowshares. Of iron he has constructed tanks, but of iron he has likewise built homes for man.”

“There is an ancient saying that the sense of a vessel is not its shell but the void. So it is with this room. It is for those who come here to fill that void with what they find in their center of stillness.”  

Drawing on Hammarskjöld’s legacy as a diplomat and spiritual man of letters, the Meditation Room will be used as a space to host critical political discussions and reflect on the role of Sweden in global affairs historically and today. We will also hold community gatherings, reading nights, and meditation sessions. 

Program:

Meister Eckhart Reading Night September 7 - September 8 20:00 - 09:00 (overnight)

Altar Practice with Mmabatho Thobejane September 21, 14:00 - 17:00
*Part of September Sessions*

Poetry: Songbook by Joshua Idehen September 26, 19:00 - 20:00

Meditation for All by Barbara Nelson September 29th, 15:00 - 18:00

Talk: Swedish Internationalism with Pierre Schori and Edgar Manheimer October 8th, 18:00 - 20:00