The Swedish way of welcoming spring is by celebrating Valborg.
Normally, in Sweden, a huge fire is lit, songs are sung and perhaps some “korv med bröd”(=hotdogs) is served. Usually, the teens will take the holiday as an opportunity to get some partying done, and the cops will share comedic posts about the “drunken” cells that they have waiting for anyone who gets too drunk.
However, celebrating Valborg in the United States might be a little bit different. In Los Angeles for example, starting huge fires just for tradition’s sake, is naturally not allowed. But that didn’t stop the Swedes in LA – the Swedish Chamber of Commerce and The Swedish Church in Los Angeles arranged a Valborg celebration at the Angelica Lutheran Church in central LA.
The small, but safe, Valborg fires.
Nicky Rosenberg and Rebecca Hartill, the cheery interns at the Swedish Chamber of Commerce Los Angeles.Marcus Eliasson and Christer Sörensson from the Swedish Church in Los Angeles
If you’re a theater fan, you might know Alexander Ekman from his choreography in works such as Cacti, Tyll, A Swan Lake, and Episode 31.
Or you might have seen this talented Swede’s choreography (or costumes!) productions by the Boston Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, Sydney Dance Company, and São Paulo City Ballet, just to name a few.
What you might not know is that Alexander Ekman will be choreographing a completely new play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, at The Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet. Even though the name is based on Shakespear’s original play, don’t be confused – that’s the only thing the two have in common! Ekman’s production will take the beauty of the Scandinavian holiday Midsummer and infuse it with fresh and original ideas. Act I will feature the traditional summer maypole and a classic Midsummer picnic, while Act II delves into the character’s dreams (good and bad!).
“In my work,” Ekman says, “I like to take ordinary situations and then just twist them a little bit more so we see them and relate to them and see the absurdity.”
If you’re bored of “traditional” ballet performances, don’t miss Ekman’s eclectic and rebellious production. Dylan Gutierrez, who has been a Joffrey dancer since 2009, says “One minute, you’re stomping. One minute, you’re just using your arms. The next minute, you’re just walking around and making these very discrete rhythms.”
Speaking of rhythm, A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s lineup also contains two talented Swedish artists: composer Mikael Karlsson and indie-rock vocalist Anna von Hausswolff, whose work is a dreamy mix of art pop, drone, and post-metal.
For those that live in the Chicago area, you don’t want to miss this!
Performances are every Wednesday at 7:30 pm until May 6. Runtime is 2 hours and 30 minutes (with one intermission) and tickets can be purchased online or at the ticket booth starting at $35.
It’s time to dust off your dancing shoes because ABBA is back! The famous Swedish group of four confirmed on Instagram earlier today that after a 35-year long pause, they will start making music again.
The group currently have two new songs recorded and one of them, “I Still Have Faith In You”, will be performed by their digital selves – computer-generated avatars in a TV special produced by NBC and the BBC that will air in December 2018.
ABBA singer Bjorn Ulvaeus, 72, revealed in a speech in Brussels on April 25 that virtual “Abbatars” have been created to represent the four members of the pop group of the upcoming digital tour, that will kick off in 2019 or 2020. According to Ulvaeus, the band have been digitally scanned and de-aged to look like they did in 1979 when they held their third and final tour. “We thought we looked good that year.”
“They photographed us from all possible angles, they made us grimace in front of cameras, they painted dots on our faces, they measured our heads,” Ulvaeus told broadcasting executives last week.
The group’s manager Gorel Hanser also confirmed the news in a press release, and the avatars are set to tour the world starting next year.
ABBA has sold 140 to over 500 million records, which makes them one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Their hits “Dancing Queen” and “Take A Chance On Me” sold more than 1 million copies in the US between the years of 1972-1982.
Even though it’s almost the weekend and most of us are getting ready to party (or relax), Sweden’s royal palace is perhaps in a more celebratory mood than most of us. That’s because King Carl XVI Gustaf is making history as Sweden’s longest reigning royal – a record that hasn’t been broken since the 1300s!
On April 26, King Carl XVI Gustaf will become the longest reigning monarch ever in Sweden – which is 44 years and 223 days. He beat out King Magnus Eriksson, who was the King of Sweden in the 1300s. It was difficult to calculate the exact length of King Eriksson’s reign (as there were hardly any documents back in the 1300s). The national archives have recently made calculations and with almost certainty stated that King Magnus Eriksson reigned for 44 years and 222 days.
King Carl XVI Gustaf was born on April 30, 1946. He is the youngest of five children and the only son. King Carl XVI Gustaf became king at a very young age – when he was only 27 (the average age of ascension for monarchs is around 41 years old). On September 15 1973, King Carl XVI Gustaf’s grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf passed away. As the current King’s father Prince Gustaf Adolf and mother Sibylla, died only a year after the birth of Carl Gustaf, Crown Prince Carl Gustaf became King.
Even though this is an impressive feat, the King is 6th in line as the longest-reigning monarch. First up is Queen Elizabeth the II (the UK and the Commonwealth), followed by Hassanal Bolkiah (Brunei), Qaboos bin Said al Said (Oman), Margrethe II (Denmark), and Sultan bin Mohamed Al-Qassimi III (Sharjah in the U.A.E).
However, this historical occasional will not be celebrated in Sweden in accordance with the King’s wishes. According to the King’s official spokesperson, Margaretha Thorgren told the Swedish newspaper Expressen: “The King will be working as usual.”
Cheers to King Carl XVI Gustaf, and here’s to many more years to come!
Last week, Swedes in the States had the opportunity to visit the art show Fair Play by Albin Wiberg, a Swedish artist from Malmö, Sweden.
The exhibit took place at the Artbreak Gallery at the historic Carlton Arms Hotel in Manhattan, which has over the years served as a gallery for many famous artists like Banksy, T.J. Byrne, and Helen Oliver Adelson, amongst others.
Albin Wiberg is 45 years old, born and raised in Västervik, but now resides in Malmö with his wife of seven years. In 2013 Albin was asked if he wanted to paint one of the 56 rooms at Carlton Arms Hotel in New York, and the answer was, of course, yes.
For six weeks, Albin Wiberg stayed at the hotel, painting the entire room 14C however he wanted to. Because his work was at Carlton Arms Hotel was so appreciated, he was once again asked a year later if he would be interested in exhibiting separately at the Artbreak Gallery in New York, and the answer was yes again.
Swedes in the States editor, Chantale Niczko with artist Albin Wiberg.
The Fair Play Exhibit consists of 14 paintings in total, that are inspired by the sidewalks of New York City. According to Albin, the sidewalks of New York is where all people are equal because that’s where people walk, side-by-side, every day.
Albin Wiberg mostly works with different textures and materials like wood, shellack, pencils, paint, and concrete, which makes the paintings look more alive with their rough and unfinished surfaces.
Below you can see pictures from the exhibit, as well as close-ups on the paintings and the surfaces. For more information about Albin Wiberg and his art, visit his website http://albinwiberg.com.
Avicii, one of Sweden’s biggest DJs have been found dead at only 28 years.
Tim Bergling, most famous for his artist name Avicii, was found dead in Muscat, Oman on Friday afternoon, April 20, local time. “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the loss of Tim Bergling, also known as Avicii,” said his publicist Diana Baron.
Avicii was a pioneer of the contemporary Electronic Dance Movement (EDM) and has been a true success story since his first hit “Levels” in 2011. Some of his other hits include “Wake Me Up”, “Waiting For Love” and “Lonely Together”. He won two MTV Music Awards, one Billboard Music Award and earned two Grammy nominations.
‘‘When I look back on my life, I think: whoa, did I do that? It was the best time of my life in a sense. It came with a price – a lot of stress a lot of anxiety for me – but it was the best journey of my life,” Avicci told Billboard magazine in 2016.
Bergling stopped touring that same year after cancelling some concerts due to health problems but kept on making music. “The family is devastated and we ask everyone to please respect their need for privacy in this difficult time. No further statements will be given,” said Baron.
So sad to hear about Avicii. Way too young. So talented, and so influential in helping to bring EDM to the mainstream scene. Thinking of his loved ones. ?
Heading out on a vacation and have nothing to read on the plane? Cleaning out your Kindle library and need some fresh reads? No problem, we got you covered! Modafinil
Today’s article is going to talk about some of the most famous Nordic writers and their bestselling books – perhaps you’ll find your next read here? Let’s check it out!
If you’ve been following Swedes in the States for a while, you might have heard of Magnusson’s breakout book, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning (and if not, you can check it out here!) In the book, Magnusson details the methodical and interesting concept of “death cleaning,” or how to slowly let go of things that don’t serve you anymore – similar to that of Japanese author Marie Kondo.
If you’ve ever heard of the words Hygge or Lykke, you’ve probably come across Wiking’s books. Wiking is the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen and self-professed to have the ‘best job in the world.’ His first work, The Little Book of Hygge, was created to understand why Denmark always comes first in global happiness rankings. Apparently, the concept of hygge is the magic ingredient. It can best be described as a feeling of coziness, togetherness, or comfort, and to get the full scoop, you can check our Meik’s works here:
For those that love to travel or have wanderlust, we recommend checking out Danish author Blixen’s most famous work, Out of Africa. The book details the author’s life and adventures when she spent 17 years in Kenya creating a coffee plantation from a piece of land that she and her husband bought.
Photo borrowed from http://www.simonandschuster.com/
Continuing the trend of popular Nordic lifestyle books, we have Linda Åkeson McGurk’s book, There’s No Such Thing As Bad Weather. Even though it’s her first published book, Swedish-American author McGurk has a popular blog and is a frequent contributor to lifestyle, parenting, and health magazines. In There’s No Such Thing As Bad Weather, McGurk explains how Nordic kids tend to be happier than their counterparts thanks to a smorgasbord of parenting techniques based on concepts like friluftsliv (“open-air living”) and hygge (remember this word?)
Niki Brantmark, although originally from London, moved to Sweden more than a dozen years ago and is a famous lifestyle and interior design blogger. Her book, Lagom: Not Too Little, Not Too Much: The Swedish Art of Living a Balanced, Happy Life, is the result of years of research into the Swede’s minds and what makes them happy. If you’re looking for a light read – or to completely change up your life – this is it!
Sweden’s recycling system is so far ahead that they have to have waste sent to them from other countries.
Yes, you heard that right! A big percentage of the world’s garbage is being burned and the way the process works has major effects on the ozone layer and the environment. Sweden, however, has found a much safer way to burn its waste.
Number one in the world Sweden is the global leader when it comes to dealing with recycling and taking care of the waste they produce. In fact, since 2011, less than 1% of all the household waste is being sent to landfills. The other 99% of the waste gets recycled or transformed into renewable energy, even though Sweden generates the same amount of garbage (around 465 kilograms per capita or 1,070 pounds per person in 2010) as the rest of the world, according to Slate.com.
Environmental friendly More than 40 percent of the world’s trash gets burnt as a way of taking care of it, according to The Journal Environmental Science and Technology. This is causing a big strain on our planet due to the greenhouse gases released into the air from burning waste. However, Sweden is using a monitored, low-emission process that is a lot safer for the environment. Back in 1991, Sweden was one of the first countries to implement a heavy tax on fossil fuel, and now they receive half of its energy from renewables, according to independent.co.uk.
Aiming for a waste-free future Sweden is aiming for a zero waste future by 2020. The waste management system has made them the global leader on the issue. They recover more energy from each tonne than any other country. They even import waste from other countries such as UK, Italy, and Norway. In 2015 they a whopping 2.3 million ton, according to Avfall Sverige.
Energy recycling is a hygienic, and environmentally safe way of converting the waste that cannot, or should not be recycled into something new. Around half of Sweden’s waste is being converted into energy for electricity, district heating, and/or remote cooling. This, combined with the recycling, makes less than 1% of the waste to end up in landfills.
Avfall Sweden is the National advisor of the EU-project Europe Decreases its Waste. An event is held for the duration of a week in November every year, where they arrange activities to prevent and decrease the amount of waste being brought to landfills.
The people of Sweden are the key Swedes are quite keen on spending time outdoors and the awareness for global warming is high throughout the country, as well as the concern for the environment. It’s, therefore, no surprise that many households in Sweden do their own recycling and separate items such as plastic, light bulbs, batteries, newspapers, glass, plastic, metal and electric appliances before being taken to the larger containers. Organic waste, such as leftover foods, that are biologically easy to break down is also separated from other waste to be composted.
Pantamera song, a campaign from Returpack Sverige to get more people to return their empty bottles to the recycling stations.
Global awareness Spread across the country there are also stations where people easily can hand in used clothes to be sent to other parts of the world where they would be needed more. There is also a cash back on plastic, aluminum and glass bottles when recycled at special stations (stores) for bottles. Due to this, most people return to the store with their empty bottles.
Lesley Pennington had a successful career at Apple in Silicon Valley when she decided to move to Sweden.
That’s where she decided to start the e-commerce company Bemz in 2005.
Pennington’s business idea – to design covers for Ikea sofas – turned out to be a great success.
The idea came while she was furnishing her family’s vacation home in Sweden and Lesley wanted to update her Ikea sofa to match the rest of the house’s interior style. The only problem was that she couldn’t find any good options, so instead, she decided to create a company that would do just that.
Lesley Pennington, founder of Bemz.
Today, Bemz is still extending the life of sofas, armchairs, and chairs while also giving them a personal touch. The company has a complementary assortment of other textiles like curtains, bedspreads, bed covers and pillow cases. You can shop their products online and they ship to the US and 41 other countries worldwide.
The company is all about sustainability – they focus on quality, design, and durability. They use 100% natural material in their fabrics. All of their factories are in Europe and they are strictly following the European guidelines for employment and environmental agreements. All of Bemz’s products are machine washable – which adds more life to their products as you don’t have to throw away the fabric if it gets stained or dirty. Bemz’s slipcovers make it possible to follow new trends and to give your home an update without having to buy a whole new furniture.
Bemz has teamed up with many other well-known designers such as Tom Dixon, the Designers Guild, and Christian Lacroix, and together they have created successful collaborations and unique design pieces.
There’s quite a lot of stars born and raised in Sweden, besides the ones mentioned in the list below, there’s always the megastars Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman and Max Von Sydow.
Let’s not forget about one of the world’s most famous silent film actresses – Anna Q Nilsson. She moved to the United States in 1905 and starred in about 200 silent movies. Only two years after her move, she was named “the most beautiful woman in America”. In 1928, she was the highest paid actress in Hollywood. She is also one of the six Swedes to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Who knows, maybe one of these young actors and actresses will shine with their own star on the Walk of Fame in the future. Until then, here’s a list of movies coming out in 2018 with some Swedish star power in them.
Tomb Raider – Alicia Vikander
Academy Award-winner Alicia Vikander stars as Lara Croft in this action film directed by Norwegian Roar Uthaug.
Synopsis: Lara is the daughter of an adventurer who went mysteriously missing. Seven years after her father’s disappearing, Lara’s 21-years-old and work as a bike courier while taking college courses. She refuses to take over her father’s global empire just as much as she refuses to admit that her father is really gone. She decides to solve the mystery around his disappearing and leaves everything behind to go and find out what really happened to him. She ends up on a mythical island and has to push herself beyond her limits to survive this adventure and earn the name Tomb Raider. Release date: March 16 (US) Runtime: 122 minutes
Three Seconds – Joel Kinnaman
Synopsis: In this crime drama, Joel Kinnaman plays a man named Pete Koslow – an ex-convict and former special ops soldier. Koslow is now working undercover in a prison for FBI to infiltrate the Polish mob’s drug trade, but he gets abandoned during the mission and has to escape on his own in a race against time. The script by Matt Cook is based on the Swedish novel of the same name by Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström. Director for this film is Andrea Di Stefano. Release date: August 17 (US) Runtime: N/A, currently in post-production
No trailer has been released at the moment.
Rampage – Malin Åkerman
This Sci-Fi action picture is based on the classic 80’s video game with the same name. The movie is directed by Brad Peyton and Ryan Engle stands for the script, with edits by Carlton Cuse, Ryan Condal and Adam Sztykiel.
Synopsis: Malin Åkerman is joined by stars like Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Johnson plays a primatologist named Davis Okoye that shares an unbreakable bond with an extremely intelligent and gentle albino gorilla George. After a mysterious genetic experiment done by Claire Wyden (Åkerman), George changes into an enormous and raging creature. Soon it’s discovered that the same changes has appeared in a wolf and a crocodile as well, and these different creatures now battle each other for supremacy while destroying everything in their path. Okoye tries to secure an antidote to be able to save the beast that was once his friend. And to save the earth from a looming catastrophe. Release date: April 17 (US) Runtime: 1 hour 55 mins
Mute – Alexander Skarsgård
Staring in this movie beside Skarsgård, are Paul Rudd and Justin Theroux. Michael Robert Johnson has written the script and Duncan Jones is the director.
Synopsis: This sci-fi thriller takes place in Berlin 40 years from now. Skarsgård plays Leo, a mute bartender that, in an attempt to find out what happened to his missing partner, goes up against his city’s gangsters. As he gets deeper into the investigation, an odd pair of surgeons seem to be the only clue – but Leo can’t tell if they can help him or if they are the ones he should fear the most. Release date: February 17 (Only on Netflix) Runtime: 126 minutes
Assassination Nation – Bill Skarsgård
The younger brother of Alexander, Bill Skarsgård, also have a lot of projects going on in 2018. One of them is Assassination Nation – an American thriller written and directed by Sam Levinson.
Synopsis: It’s a story about a Salem high school student called Lily (Odessa Young) and her friends that spend their time on social media and partying. The people of Salem gets targeted in a huge data hack and everyone’s privacy gets destroyed, lives get ruined and deadly secrets get exposed. It turns into a violent chaos and Lily and her friends has to team up to survive the night. Release date: January 21 (US) Runtime: 110 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uBa566KceM
Mamma Mia! Here we go again – Stellan Skarsgård
This summer, we can also see Stellan, father in the Skarsgård family, star in the sequel to Mamma Mia!
Synopsis: The movie comes out on July 20th – ten years after the first movie was released. In this romantic musical comedy directed and written by Ol Parker, from a story by him, Catherine Johnson and Richard Curtis, we can see pregnant Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) learning about her mother’s past. Sophie is now running the Greek villa and is worried how she will be able to deal with her pregnancy without her mother’s help.
Skarsgård’s role, Bill, is one of the people that are trying to reassure and help Sophie. He, together with Tanya (Christine Baranski), Sam (Pierce Brosnan), and the rest, tell Sophie stories about her mother and how she managed to run the Greek villa and start the world’s first girl power band all on her own, while she was pregnant and also without a mother to guide her. Sophie’s grandmother, who’s played by Cher, also shows up uninvited to the island and brings another twist to the movie. Release date: July 20 (US) Runtime: N/A
Snapshots – Emily Baldoni
Swedish Emily Baldoni plays a woman named Allison in this drama directed by Melanie Mayron and written by Jan Miller Corran.
Allison finds an old roll of film that she gets developed, which contains secrets from her grandmother, Rose’s, past. Her past collides with Allison’s secret future and Rose’s daughter’s – Allison’s mother – present. The movie is about these three generations and what really happened in Rose’s life that summer of 1960.
Release date: September 2018 (US) Runtime: 1 hour 34 mins
The Assassin’s Code(previously entitled Legacy) – Peter Stormare
In this thriller directed by David A. Armstrong and written by Edward Lee Cornett and Valerie Grant, you get to follow the rookie Cleveland detective Michael Connelly (Justin Chatwin) working to solve his first major case. Connelly wants to prove himself and escape from the shadow of his late father – a disgraced cop and convicted of a drug scandal.
The investigation turns into a cat-and-mouse game and Connelly faces pressure to maintain the status quo while being watched by a ghost-like assassin.
Release date: April 6 2018 (US) Run time: N/A
Days of Power – Jenny Hutton
Jenny Hutton from Stockholm plays “Milow the girl”, an international pop star who mysteriously disappear together with her band while they are on tour. As past and present merge, they are searching for answers and fighting for more than just their own lives when a whole secret industry uncovers.
The movie, that is directed by Jason Pagnoni and written by Michel Grey, will be released on February 20th.
Release date: February 20 (US) Runtime: 1 hour, 42 mins
Mission: Impossible – Fallout – Rebecca Ferguson
Together with Tom Cruise, Swedish Rebecca Ferguson stars in the sixth Mission: Impossible movie. Ferguson plays Ilsa Faust, a former MI6 agent and an ally to Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team. On July 27th, you’ll be able to see how the IMF team race against time after a mission gone wrong.
The film also stars Vanessa Kirby, Michelle Monaghan, Ving Rhames, Alec Baldwin amongst others. This movie – directed, written and co-produced by Christopher McQuarrie – will be the first of the Mission: Impossible movies to be released in RealD 3D. Release date: July 27 (US) Run time: N/A
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