A “slow food” café created in a former cowshed on the edge of Ipswich is set to host an art exhibition inspired by lockdown walks in Suffolk and dreams of escape.
Milk Shed Café at Sproughton has joined forces with Suffolk printmaker Karin Klompe to create a stimulating space where visitors can practise fika (pronounced fee-kah), a Swedish ritual which involves slowing down and appreciating the good things in life such as coffee and friends. Both businesses were created during the coronavirus pandemic.
The artwork will be displayed over four weeks to Sunday, August 1.
The Milk Shed Café — which uses locally sourced ingredients — said the exhibition was “another great way to showcase everything Suffolk has to offer”.
The original artwork is available to buy framed, unframed and in postcard form and features pieces range from story-telling landscapes inspired from lockdown walks in Suffolk to images from nature.
“When I first met with Karin I loved the fact her art is inspired from walks discovered during the many lockdowns and our joint ambition to pursue our passions which have ended up with us both launching businesses during a global pandemic,” said Milk Shed Café co-owner Clare Forrest.
Ms Klompe said: “As our worlds stopped in 2020, it placed more importance on the Fika things to colour our lives which I try to capture in my printmaking. I am thrilled that Clare’s appreciation of this Swedish habit, which I first experienced during a childhood of Swedish summer holidays, has resulted in our collaboration.”
Ms Forrest said she hoped the show would be the first of many diverse ways to showcase Suffolk.
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