Most Swedish art galleries that are affiliated with the Gallery Association have had to lay off staff. Renowned Galerie Forsblom closes its Stockholm branch and focuses on the operations in Helsinki. And more galleries risk following.

- The whole industry is severely affected. Many may be able to survive for a few months, but in the autumn it can be strained. For each gallery that disappears, an average of 20 artists are affected, says Sara Berner Bengtsson, president of the Gallery Association.

- I feel great concern. Without a gallery you have nothing as an artist ... it's even a channel for reaching out, says artist Per B. Sundberg.

Calls for targeted support

The Gallery Association urges public actors with a budget for art purchases not to wait but to buy now when the need is urgent. They also call for state aid: earmarked money for institutions that can trade art and keep galleries alive during the worst crisis.

- Without the galleries, no art can be produced. If they disappear - which may very well happen - then the art world is threatened by a systemic collapse, says Culture News art critic Dennis Dahlqvist, who, however, believes the large galleries survive.

- But the small galleries that often show debutants, which the bigger eager ones do, are the ones who need help.