Mini creations by Swedish artists ‘Anonymouse,’ dubbed ‘Banksy Mouse,’ go from street to museum

LUND Sweden AP After nine years scurrying in the shadows the two-person Swedish street art collective known as Anonymouse dubbed Banksy Mouse by Swedish media has decisively stepped out of the dark and into a museum exhibition The mystery began in late when miniature homes and businesses all measuring well below knee height began appearing on the streets of southern Sweden It looked like a bunch of mice had opened a tiny restaurant named Il Topolino and a neighboring nut delicatessen Noix de Vie There was no clue as to who created them besides a signature from anonymous artist group Anonymouse The following years saw more mouse homes and businesses appear in unexpected places First in Sweden then all over the world from the U K to Canada The original creation on Bergsgatan a busy street in Malm briskly attracted attention and went viral drawing crowds The project was even featured on the popular U S TV show The Late Late Show with James Corden The two artists behind the whiskery art project stepped out of their anonymity earlier this year Swedes Elin Westerholm and Lupus Nens n both work in show business making props and sets for film and television The sweet part is that we re building something for children Bulk of us have a few kind of relationship to a world where mice live parallel to ours declared Nens n citing numerous child-focused fairy tales On Friday a selection of the duo s creations went on display at the Skissernas Museum in Lund a short trip from Malm to celebrate nine years of mouse pranks and creativity Far-ranging mouse builders The duo say the idea for Anonymouse came during a trip to Paris in Sitting in the French capital s Montmartre district they soaked up Art Nouveau influences Their first creation took six months to build before they secretively installed it on Bergsgatan one cold dark night It s amazing to see a -year-old come over with crutches and people help them down and have a look disclosed Nens n It really does bring out the child in everyone The artists have since created a mini pharmacy in the Swedish city of Lund a pastry shop near Stockholm a castle on the Isle of Man and a radio studio in Quebec Canada The duo created between two and three projects a year Record store Ricotta Records which the pair installed in Lund in features tiny mouse-sized record covers such as Back to Brie by Amy Winemouse and Goodbye Yellow Cheese Roll by Stilton John Westerholm reported part of the contest is taking something that s a bit dumb really seriously We spent a lot of time coming up with mice and cheese puns over the years Nens n revealed A sense of adventure The museum s exhibit rooms host six miniature worlds once secretly installed on nearby Swedish streets as well as sketches and preparatory works from the archives The exhibit will run until late August They are hidden they are not in common areas where you would expect an artwork There s one in the basement one on a balcony and so on exhibit curator Emil Nilsson declared I hope visitors take away a sense of adventure when they enter the museum looking for these hidden miniature worlds After revealing their identities earlier this year Westerholm and Nens n stated their mouse building adventures were over bringing an end to the viral street art project It s been nine years explained Westerholm It s time to end it I think Anonymouse won t return But will the duo never build anything small in a society place again We never know we can t promise anything Westerholm explained Source