Swedish News

 

  • Roy Andersson’s films at MoMA.
    Roy Andersson (1943- ) is a Swedish film director known for films like “A Swedish Love Story” and “Songs from the Second Floor” (“En kärlekshistoria” and “Sånger från andra våningen” respectively). Village Voice once called him a “slapstick Ingmar Bergman,” others have pointed at his films as being artistically compelling and often leaning toward the absurd. The Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA) puts Roy Andersson in focus during September 10-18, when screenings of several of his films will take place (including short films and commercials). For more info: www.moma.org

  • Swedish fashion: Guldknappen to Carin Wester.
    Another hot Swedish designer, Carin Wester, was awarded Swedish Ladies' Fashion and gossip journal Damernas Värld’s prestigious Guldknappen award. “It’s a prize I’ve been dreaming about since I began,” Wester says. She describes her clothes as “always gray, white and black but with details in some other color.” Her women’s collection has many masculine details, while her men’s collection is a bit on the romantic side. “I make clothes that are easy to change,” she says. “Sweaters where you can remove the sleeves, for instance.” And Carin Wester’s fall forecast says black. “A lot of black. The pants will be rather tight, and we will see a lot of leather and suede. There will be a lot of knitted clothes. As far as shoes go, there will be a lot of wedges, which are easy to walk in.” Wester reveals that she just shipped off three boxes of clothes to Hollywood for a film project there. “Unfortunately I cannot say which one, but it’s exciting to be seen this way!”

  • Your closet’s ecological future.
    Henrik Mattson analyzes trends for a living and says that the fashion trend has ECOLOGIC written all over it, and that we can thank Barack Obama and the financial crisis for that. “The financial straits we’re in have made us look at things differently,” Mattson says. “Ecologic products have become a commercial reality, and Obama, well, he has shown that you can make a difference, and that big things can start with one person.” Ecological clothes need not look ecological or boring or sturdy. “In the future we won’t even see that a garment is ecological at all.” According to Mattson, fashion’s ecological future depends on new techniques, our increased interest in humanity (we think before we act, and we know we have to act if our children will have a future at all) and our renewed interest in politics.

  • Victoria’s new style.
    Gone are the frumpy big dresses and the hats. Crown Princess Victoria’s new style is classic and elegant and exudes confidence. Fashion guru Ebba von Sydow gives the Princess five stars: “She has always been good looking, but now the sturdy and practical sporty gal has changed into a stylish power woman.” Von Sydow believes, probably correctly, that it is Victoria’s recent engagement that has helped change her, and believes the princess can become a real inspiration for Swedish women when it comes to fashion. “Her style is easy to wear, it’s classic and very flattering. A style many can imitate with success.” Way to go Victoria!

  • Scientists find oldest Viking ship.
    Swedish archaeologists in late August discovered a Viking ship burial dating from the seventh century, the oldest ship of its type to be found in Scandinavia. The ship is in a mound on the island of Kallandso in Lake Vanern in central Sweden. The dig is a joint effort by the Lake Vanern Museum and Goteborg University. So far, researchers have not uncovered the ship, although archaeologists have found the remains of animals sacrificed for the burial and grave goods. Historians are comparing the site to Sutton Hoo in eastern England, where the ship timbers had decomposed over the centuries but its outline could still be seen from the nails still in place.
    "In Sunnerby, the number of boat rivets found so far indicate that there is a ship hidden in the Kungshögen mound, that is to say a vessel of more than 10 meters (30 feet) and possibly up to 20 meters (60 feet) in length," the museum said in an announcement of the find.
    Lake Vanern, the third-largest lake in Europe, is northeast of Göteborg. Archaeologists plan to continue work until October and then resume in the spring.

  • Sweden reports first swine flu death.
    The swine flu claimed its first victim in Sweden when an Uppsala man died from the H1N1 virus.
    "We received the test results which confirm that the man in his 30s who died (Aug. 28) had H1N1 flu," the Akademiska hospital said in a statement. The man had flu symptoms and died at his home near Uppsala, 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Stockholm. Several other people with H1N1 are currently seriously ill in Sweden, where more than 900 people have been infected with the virus. More than 2,180 people around the world have died from the virus since it emerged in April, according to the latest WHO figures, with an estimated 210,000 people infected in 177 countries.

  • Fuglesang in outer space.
    There was a delay and one of the little lamps in his spacesuit didn’t work ... well, who said traveling in space was going to be easy? Nevertheless, Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang again took a walk in outer space during his journey with Discovery. “Here we go” was the signal, and then the spacesuit with the Swedish flag could be seen outside the space shuttle. “I see land and I see light,” Fuglesang said when the Discovery passed over Sweden. “How fitting!” the control station reported back. Fuglesang and mission-lead spacewalker Danny Olivas installed a new liquid ammonia tank used to keep the ISS cool, bolting it into place and mating a series of cooling lines to the new assembly. Astronauts Kevin Ford and Nicole Stott operated the robotic arm carrying Fuglesang and the new 800-kilogram (1,760 pounds) tank to the installation site on an ISS truss segment, live footage from NASA TV showed. In 2006, Fuglesang became the first Swede in space and so far he is the only person outside the United States or Russia to participate in more than three spacewalks.

  • The Church – our new temple of health?
    How do we get more people to go to church? How about combining body and soul? How about a back massage after Sunday service? Or qigong and a cup of tea? “Yes, it’s a new trend to take care of our bodies within the church," says Annika Borg, pastor in the Swedish Church. “It is something we have borrowed from other traditions and cultures.” Gudrun Khemiri is a physical therapist and a taiji/qigong instructor who started the very first group in Högalids Church in Stockholm. Today she works with 15 different parishes, teaching the stress reducing technique. “Being inside the church is very helpful,” Khemiri says. “It means birth and death, it means something ordinary and something very solemn at the same time. And it corresponds well with our own bodies.” Taiji/qigong is now offered on a weekly basis in 15 Stockholm churches, among them: Oscars, Adolf Fredrik, Skärholmen, Sofia, Högalid and Maria. Sankt Jacobs Church offers “spa for the soul” with massage, meditation, and mindfulness exercises.

  • Fox on the run.
    Some days ago at a festival in Bjuv, Skåne, people saw what they thought was a Chihuahua on the run. But the scared animal was not a dog at all, but a rare fennec (a small species of desert fox) native to the Sahara Desert of North Africa. It was probably smuggled into Sweden and then somehow managed to escape its owner. The little fennec now has a new home at Skansen, and it has a new name, too. The little fox’s name is Rommel, after the German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, also known as “Desert Fox.”