ABBA Museum - Thank you for the Music...and the Memory

ABBA Museum

It was a windy and cold afternoon that I arrived at the ABBA Museum in Stockholm.  The museum building is definitely not purpose-built.







The first floor of the museum is the ticket office and the souvenir shop, where we could get various ABBA memorabilia.  The exhibition was located at the basement where we watched a video of the band, followed by the vehicles owned by the band members.

What better way to introduce ABBA than showcasing their triumph at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest.    Picture shows costume worn by Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Anni-Frid.











At its peak, the Polar Music record company was the centre of ABBA's activities.  The museum recreated the office of that era.

The ABBA museum offers visitors interactive activities at various locations.  One of them would be to remix tracks of ABBA songs.  The picture shows the mixing booth station.

You can even do a song recording of some songs and even be featured in a video (see below).   All of your participation would be recorded and able to be downloaded free-of-charge within a month of visit.



And the bravest of all visitors would audition to be the 5th member of ABBA.  It was great seeing fans going up and be part of the super-group.

This helicopter appeared on the album cover of the "Arrival" album.  Of course, most visitors sat in it and took pictures.





















Another room showing all the albums released by ABBA and the gold and platinum records obtained around the world.

At the end of the exhibition there was a section that features Swedish Music Hall of Fame.   Theme-wise, it does not fit well into the ABBA Museum - probably a request from some funding bodies.

So is this museum worth a visit?  If you are a fan, or if you are keen to find out more about ABBA, this museum would definitely satisfy your curiosity.  You would get more enjoyment if you are game enough to try out the various activities, such as doing the karaoke (or song recording), or be the 5th member of ABBA.  The exhibits may not be extensive this moment, but being a new museum, it is off to a good start.  It is a unique place to visit, and reminds the world that Sweden has produced a band that brings joy to people all over the world!