Bruket Street Art - foton från Wargöns bruk i Vänersborg

Writer: Helena Bergström

Bruket Street Art is a large area of graffiti and street art at the disused Wargön mill in Vänersborg. Opinions on this place can certainly differ, but regardless, the disused mill offers a very special environment. We were curious to take a closer look.

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Bruket Street Art - at the disused Wargöns mill in Vänersborg, Sweden

Wargöns Bruk was a group of companies and a paper mill, which was active for 130 years. On 15 December 2008 at 13:47, the last paper was produced at the mill, which then closed down, putting 320 people out of work.

When the area was later demolished, for some reason a ruin-like area was left behind, filled with half-demolished concrete walls. The raw landscape has attracted scores of graffiti artists, transforming the site into something reminiscent of a post-apocalyptic future film.

The Street Art mill is located at the disused Wargön mill in Vargön, Vänersborg.

Visiting Bruket Street Art

The mill is not particularly accessible, but rather a bit remote and hidden, which can both discourage and attract. We found it by setting the GPS to "Bruket Street Art" and passing the company Vargön Alloys AB.

Photos from Bruket Street Art

This will be a photo report from the Bruket Street Art area. Do you like it? Or do you think it's absolutely awful? It's entirely up to you. We were somehow fascinated by the place, where well-crafted paintings mix with pure graffiti, and where nature is starting to take over in many places.

Some paintings we stayed with because we liked them. In other cases, it was rather the colours, concrete and greenery that attracted us to photograph and film.

When we were here we were, as far as we know, completely alone. In one direction we could look at factory buildings, and in the other direction is the water.

The area turned out to be bigger than we first thought, and everywhere we went new walls appeared.

We only photographed a fraction of all the painted walls, and yet there were lots of photos.

Some paintings were so worn, or so overgrown, that we thought that no one had been here painting for a long time.

Then we saw phrases like "Love to Ukraine" and "Fuck Putin", and we realised that the place is still alive after all.

Surely it's a different place?

One of the walls extends outwards along the water, but the 'bridge' didn't look too reliable. We settled for scouting from a distance ...

And so we conclude with a few final images in this picture cavalcade...

Film from Bruket Street Art

Peter has also edited a film from Bruket Street Art. You can see it here.

More to see in the neighbourhood

Once you've seen Bruket Street Art, you'll want to see what it's all about. Vänersborg more can offer. Not far from Vänersborg you will also find Trollhättan, where you can experience lots of locks. It is also not far from the beautiful Uddevalla, with everything from wonderful nature experiences to good food.

göra i Västergötland — Our top tips for holidays in Västergötland

What do you like about Bruket Street Art?

What do you like about Bruket Street Art and other street art or graffiti? Are there times when you like it and times when you don't like it?

Facts about Bruket Street Art

Address: Vargön 132, Vargön
Municipality: Vänersborg
County: Västra Götaland County
Landscape: Västergötland
Access: The paintings were created from the demolition of Wargön Mill in 2010 onwards.

READ MORE: Things to do in Västergötland - sights and experiences
READ MORE: Travelling in Sweden - your guide to Sweden's best travel destinations

2 Comments

Add yours →

Bosse says:

Sure it's cool. I live here and visited the place 3 years ago and have not been there since. Guess nature is taking back the area at a reasonable pace now and it will soon be completely hidden.

25 September 2022 - 11:07

BP says:

Wow! A lot has happened there. I visited Wargön Mill in the 1990s on a business trip, and the mill was still operating. A bit sad to see that they now look like a ghost town, but that the walls have become a "graffiti heaven" for the artists.

25 September 2022 - 20:19

Bruket Street Art - photos from Wargön's mill in Vänersborg

Writer: Helena Bergström

Bruket Street Art - at the disused Wargöns mill in Vänersborg, Sweden

Visiting Bruket Street Art

Photos from Bruket Street Art

Film from Bruket Street Art

More to see in the neighbourhood

What do you like about Bruket Street Art?

Facts about Bruket Street Art

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