Skift Take
The addition of Abba's museum to Stockholm's skyline helps cement the power of pop as an institution and stakes out a territory somewhere between art museums and Universal's Harry Potter theme park.
A boxy, four-storey structure of Scandinavian pine is rising out of the snow on Stockholm's Djurgården Island, sandwiched between the city's largest funfair and a restored 17th-century warship.
From its opening day, on 7 May, Abba The Museum, the city's first monument to the Swedish supergroup, is expected to lure hundreds of thousands of tourists a year to belt out versions of hits such as Super Trouper, Dancing Queen and Waterloo, alongside holographic images of the group in all their spangly 70s glory.
"Obviously, from a Swedish state point of view it should have already been around for many years, because it's one of the most famous Swedish brands ever," said Mattias Hansson, the museum's managing director, as he showed off the site before Christmas. "We know from the tourism office in Stockholm that each and every year they receive thousands of questions from tourists about where to go to see something about Abba, and for years they have been forced to say, 'nowhere'."
"We weren't entirely sure if there was going to be one, whether we wanted one – to become artefacts and relics while we are still alive," said Abba's Björn Ulvaeus, explaining the group's previous reservat
