Boston Blatte

There is an army of terracotta warriors guarding the passages deep within the mountain of Skeppsholmen in Stockholm. And yes, they are the real deal, the Terracotta Army from China; on tour.

Stockholm’s East Asia Museum . The temporary exhibition opened at the end of August and closes after an extended period this Sunday at 10pm.

Leave it to me to wait until the final hours (or days in reality) to gawk among the many. Nearly 6 months later they still draw quite the crowd. I imagine this weekend will resemble the early months of the exhibit when visitors even with pre-ordered tickets would have to wait an hour to get in. (But unless you’re planning a trip to China this could be your last shot.)

The venue to host these silent guardians of centuries past, Bergrummet (the rock shelter,) is also steeped in military mystery. The shelters blasted out of the rock mass in the early 1940s to house a potential war room should military strife reach Sweden’s capital and were a secret to the general public. While central command moved to Muskö in 1969, the rocky cavern was used as a store for military equipment until the late 80s. The boys and girls (yep, some female statues too) of clay are the first sentinels to stand watch in these caves for decades and part of the very first public art exhibit.

If you feel up for a very cramped and somewhat poorly presented display of a most amazing cultural phenomenon the clock is ticking. They’re open until 10pm both Saturday and Sunday, could be better timing that daylight hours.

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