Aseaströmmen, Bronze sculpture in Stora Torget, Västerås, Sweden.
Aseaströmmen is a sculpture by Bengt-Göran Broström consisting of eight bronze cyclists riding along a polished granite wall 12 metres long, which serves as a base. At the end of the wall sits a dipper (strömstare) looking toward the cyclists. The riders' clothing varies from 1930s to 1950s models.
In the 1980s the city wanted to mark the boundary between Stora Torget and Bondtorget, and Bengt-Göran Broström was contacted in 1985. His proposal was a 25-metre wall with 13 cyclists, but the municipality limited the wall to 12 metres. Work began in 1985 and the sculpture was inaugurated in 1989.
The cyclists wear clothing styles from the 1930s to the 1950s, showing the working culture that shaped Västerås during that era. This representation connects the past to today's cityscape and keeps alive the memory of the industrial boom.
The sculpture was removed in autumn 2021 after cracks were found in the granite wall, partly due to ground settling, and was reinstalled on 2 May 2024. It stands on Stora Torget, where it marks the boundary with Bondtorget.
The sculpture was meant to be a 25-metre wall with 13 cyclists, but the municipality capped the wall at 12 metres, so the artist said the monument became a sculpture. The work's original title was Längs den långa gatan, yet the public called it Aseaströmmen before it was finished, and Broström adopted that name.
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