About Junibacken
The story of Junibacken
… starts with Astrid Lindgren. The first time she heard about the project she thought it was a nice idea and all that, but she didn’t want to have anything to do with any kind of “Astrid Lindgren’s house”. A place where other authors of children’s books and illustrators could be showcased and could inspire others, however, that was something else – that was fine. And that is how it turned out. Staffan Götestam, who presented the idea to Astrid, was already thinking along the same lines: “I wanted to create a cultural centre for both children and adults. Not an old-fashioned, stuffy institution, but something innovative, full of life and content, and exciting!”
Everyone who goes there is filled with wonder that something like this even exists, and I can't imagina a children's museum that comes close to it
Astrid Lindgren in a letter to Marit Törnqvist, February 4th 1997
A train to the world of fairy tales and stories
… starts with Astrid Lindgren. The first time she heard about the project she thought it was a nice idea and all that, but she didn’t want to have anything to do with any kind of “Astrid Lindgren’s house”. A place where other authors of children’s books and illustrators could be showcased and could inspire others, however, that was something else – that was fine. And that is how it turned out. Staffan Götestam, who presented the idea to Astrid, was already thinking along the same lines: “I wanted to create a cultural centre for both children and adults. Not an old-fashioned, stuffy institution, but something innovative, full of life and content, and exciting!”
The magic between the pages
Today Junibacken is a children’s cultural centre with books at its heart. Everything we do is based on our ultimate aim: to awaken the desire to read. We want to encourage creativity and imagination – and show the way to the magic between the pages. We do this with exhibitions and theatre performances that are based on works by the Nordic region’s finest authors of children’s books. We are definitely one of the largest producers of children’s theatre in the country, putting on over 1,500 performances per year, and our children’s bookshop is Sweden’s largest. The profits we make are reinvested into our activities – nothing is paid out to shareholders as dividends. And Junibacken gets no state funding – it is financed completely from its own earnings.
An audacious children’s cultural centre
Our ambition is to continue to create, inspire and stimulate in the spirit of Astrid Lindgren. We want to be a place where children and adults meet in experiences that last longer than a ride on a carousel. We want to be a children’s cultural centre that doesn’t shirk from the difficult issues but dares to talk about everything that is important in life. Just as Astrid Lindgren did in her books. And as do all the fantastic authors and illustrators that we are discovering today. Welcome to Junibacken!
