Welcome to visit the monument – next to the Vasa Museum and Junibacken: Google Maps Stockholm
Finding a suitable site for Et Purus No 2 in Stockholm was an adventure that spanned over quite a few years. But patience paid off. Being offered a corner on the Royal Djurgården island in the center of Stockholm was well worth the wait. To say the least: An alley of full grown trees leading straight to the monument. In the park next to the Vasa Museum and Astrid Lindgren's "Pippi Longstocking museum" Junibacken. An honor in it self. Walking down the alley towards the monument you will find yourself in front of one of Stockholm's most beautiful backdrops – Skeppsholmen, Old Town, Blasieholmen, and Strandvägen – reflected in the water mirror of Ladugårdsviken and Nybroviken. As if that wasn't enough, our mighty sun happens to set behind that historical silhuette more or less every evening. Stockholm has been enriched with a new peaceful site for thoughts, contemplation and beauty. Crowned with a monument that celebrates the winning choice of health over harm and honesty over deceit.
SUPPORT FROM ALL LEVELS
The moral support for Professor Ljungqvist, his legacy, and his mission was unprecedented on this day. The genuine expressions of gratitude painted by individuals from different walks of life confirmed the value of art and its monumental powers to unify people and beliefs. Meet some of them below or check out their video greetings here:
Dignitaries at the ceremony: Professor Ljungqvist, and Margreth Ljunggren, H.M. Carl XVI Gustaf, Sculptor Sassona Norton, Minister Jakob Forssmed, Chair Swedish Sports Confederation Anna Iwarsson and CEO Fabege Stefan Dahlbo.
Greetings from young, clean athletes representing the upcoming generation of influencers and role models: Tara Babulfath, Judo, Mondo Duplantis, Pole vault, and Sarah Sjöström, Swimming.
Greetings from Ex-active athletes and non-athletes: Erika Johansson, Long jump, Per Elofsson, Cross country skiing, and the young girls in the ceremony choir – all shaping the future for a healthy society with their choices .
And rock-solid greetings and acknowledgements from major international sports stakeholders, responsible for global mega events and shaping guidelines and jurisdiction frameworks for public health in society and in sports: Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Sir Sebastian Coe, President of World Athletics, and Olivier Rabin, Senior Director, Science and Medicine, World Anti-doping Agency (WADA).
SUPPORT FROM FUNDERS, PARTNERS AND FRIENDS
The project is founded by brave and loyal partners: Swedish city developing company Fabege AB (publ), sculptor Sassona Norton, Jeb Wood at the foundry Independent Casting Inc., and "Friends of Et Purus". Take the time to get to know them better here.
SPECIAL THANKS TO SASSONA AND JEB
Sassona and Jeb. They are the kind of people you need in order to fulfill a dream of this kind. Professional down to the last millimeter. Loyal to the mission rather than all other kinds of agendas that life surprises us with. Resilient through more or less any obstacles and not to forget – through the times of a brutal pandemic. Jeb Wood and his staff at his foundry in Philadelphia have relentlessly pushed the production through thick and thin, backing Sassona's artistic vision. Sassona dared to say yes to the idea back in 2011, but it took eight more years before she could start to sculpt the hand in wet clay in her studio in New Jersey, USA. Say hi to Sassona and Jeb here.
Sassona at Jeb's foundry in Philadelphia. On the day when the shipping company picked up the two crates with the bronze hand and the frustum for the delivery to Stockholm via New York harbour. Photo: Gavin Grace
THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM CAME TRUE – TWICE.
Professor Ljungqvist is known to be knowledgeable beyond comprehension. But he didn't have a clue that 200 people from around the world were to show up at his 80th birthday reception in Stockholm. Neither did he know that the draped cardboard model on the reception stage would materialize into TWO bronze monuments to his honor. The truth is that five years of silence after that day, on his 85th birthday in 2016, he had already given up the hope for it to ever happen.
But we all know now better today. Check out this video when Professor Ljungqvist met with Sassona Norton in 2016, and read more on the story here.