Halmstads Bollklubb (HBK) will wear a third kit based on Erik Olson’s 1930 painting ‘Diagonal Composition K’ when it meets IFK Göteborg at Gamla Ullevi on Saturday, 12 September 2026. The uniform, developed with Mjellby Art Museum, will be used only for that fixture.
The collaboration turns to a work by Olson, a member of the Halmstad Group, whose ‘Diagonal Composition K’ features a bright red circle against overlapping lines and squares in green, grey, purple, blue and yellow. Olson was particularly interested in geometric forms—especially circles and squares—when he made the painting. The kit is based on that composition.
Kristoffer Pressfeldt of HBK said the club wanted to express its local affiliation in a meaningful way and pointed to the Halmstad Group as a source of civic pride. He described the kit as unique and said HBK would be the first Swedish club to do something comparable.
For Anne Vigeland, curator at Mjellby Art Museum, the project connects two presences that have helped shape Halmstad’s identity and visibility: the Halmstad Group and HBK’s football successes. The Halmstad Group was formed in 1929 by Sven Jonson, Waldemar Lorentzon, Stellan Mörner, Axel Olson, Erik Olson and Esaias Thorén, and remained active until 1979.
Belgium’s national team wore a René Magritte-inspired shirt during the summer football World Cup. Mjellby Art Museum holds approximately 450 works by the Halmstad Group.
