Art meets campus: New mural brightens up Jönköping University
This week, the corridor leading to the student union building was given a complete makeover when artist Christofer “Sagie” Siwertz-Svedjeby spent four days putting his creative mark on it.
“The idea behind the artistic embellishment is partly to liven up a somewhat boring corridor and throroughfare, and partly to highlight the international character of the university,” he says.
Christofer “Sagie” Siwertz-Svedjeby is an artist, mural painter and tattoo artist. He has a combined studio and tattoo parlour in Jönköping and usually works with public art throughout Sweden and sometimes abroad.
Earlier this year, he won Jönköping Municipality Leisure and Culture Committee's 2025 culture scholarship for his murals.
“It will be extra fun to paint something like this on home turf. What's more, my wife studied at the School of Health and Welfare, so it feels great to be able to paint here,” he says.
Joint concept
Christofer usually develops a joint concept with the client but is also careful to retain a certain degree of creative freedom when it comes to design and how details such as light, shadows and textures are rendered in the painting.
"We chose to do the painting during the summer because there are fewer people in the corridor then, compared to the rest of the year.”
The motif itself, featuring buildings from different places around the world, fits well with JU's international character.
“I hope my paintings will brighten things up a bit and make people happy. I like to paint all kinds of subject matter, but I almost always paint animals and nature. Now I get to paint a few more buildings, which is a greater technical challenge,” says Christian.
However, he doesn’t usually paint for schools and this is the first time Christian has painted anything at JU.
“I haven't actually painted at any school since I did a piece of art at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai a few years ago,” he says.
More about Christian's art.
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