The Stockholm Exhibition of 1897 took place on Lejonslätten at Djurgården in Stockholm. On the exhibition site were presented the latest technical innovations, and various kinds of Swedish industrial success. But there were also exhibitors from Norway, Denmark, Finland and Russia, as well as an international arts exhibit.

The Stockholm exhibition can also be seen as a sort of medium for the hopes and ideas of those times. There were quite a few new media technologies on display, first and foremost the film.

The opening ceremonies, for example, were documented with the help of motion pictures. King Oscar II was immortalized, but not only on film, since his opening speech also was preserved by the aid of a phonograph.

The king and his arrival to the exhibition can be seen in the footage to the left. If one wants to listen to His Majesty King Oscar II, who, however, did not record the speech himself - it was done by an actor with a voice similar to the King's, it can be heard at the website "Swedish Phonographic Recordings", also set up by SLBA.