Artistic embellishment

Outside GIH's main entrance is "Tribute to Ling", a cast statue depicting two naked young people hand in hand. The artwork was created in 1948 by Gustaf Nordahl and won the gold medal in sculpture at the London Olympics the same year.

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The statue "Pehr Henrik Ling"

Outside the school building, facing the Stockholm Stadium, stands the statue "Pehr Henrik Ling". In 1949, the statue was donated by the Swedish Gymnastics Teachers' Association to the Royal Gymnastic Central Institute, which later became the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences. The statue was created by Gustaf Nordahl.

Mural 'Pelota'

"Pelota" was created by Olle Bonniér for GIH in 1980 and is a sculptural mural depicting the ball game Pelota. The artwork is an impressive eye-catcher and takes up three walls in the university's sports entrance. On one wall you can see people playing and on the other two walls, the artist has designed the walls of the playing field.

The game has roots in Mexico and the Mayan culture in Central America. The text next to the sculpture says: "Pelota is the oldest ball game. It originated among the Mayans about 1,500 years before our era. Two teams played on a ball field with high walls. At each end of the pitch was a stone painting ring. A hard rubber ball the size of a tennis ball was struck with his wrist through the ring. They looked after each other with wrist, elbow, hip and knee (...)".

'Hovering, drifting' mural

The artwork "Hovering, drifting" was completed in the summer of 2012 and was created by Helena Isoz. The twelve-metre-high mural extends through the entire stairwell of the main building.

Magdalena Malm, former director of Public Art Agency Sweden and commissioner of the work, describes the artwork:
"'Hovering, drifting' is based on the austere architecture where it is a view of nature. The trap section here becomes an insight with a green summer color that can become a memory from the tree house of childhood. It also provides a window to the imagination and the freedom we have within us.

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The artwork "Balling Girls"

The artwork is on the wall in the main entrance and is a wrought iron work by Bo Josephson after the Egyptian model. "Bollande flickor" was donated to the inauguration of the Idla Centre on Rosenlundsgatan in Stockholm and was then donated to GIH in 1998.

About Ernst Idla and the Idla Girls

Ernst Idla was born in Estonia in 1901. At the end of World War II, he fled to Sweden, where he later founded the world-famous gymnastics group Idlaflickorna. This form of gymnastics is characterized by music, movement, dance and play in combination with balls.

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Animal wall sculptures

On the 5th floor of the main building, there are three works of art in clay by the artist Lars Andersson. The left depicts a family of roe deer with a newborn kid, in the middle there are three flying swans and on the right is a stately bull moose with a moose calf.

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