You’d better know …

It is undoubtedly through the export of its culture that

Sweden has had its greatest impact upon the world. Since 1974, the State of Sweden wants to support and promote all the cultural activities such as literature, music, cinema, theatre..

Culture is a way to free yourself in a society. In Sweden, the culture has been popularized in order to be accessible for all the Swedish. Owing to its geographical isolation, Sweden was ostra-cized from the artistic and cultural movements for a long time. However, in 1998, Stockholm was appointed as the “cultural capital of Europe” and showed the world its cul-ture. In literature, Sweden is best known for the works of Au-gust Strindberg, one of the original bad boys of mod-ernism. Among Sweden's many other internationally-known writ-ers are Selma Lagerlöf, Vilhelm Moberg, Pär Lagerkvist and Astrid Lindgren, the last of whom is better known through the name of her most famous character, Pippi Longstocking. Without question, the most honored aspect of Swedish culture is film. Ingmar Bergman, Greta Garbo, Max von Sydow, Liv Ullman, Anita Ekberg, and Ingrid Bergman, all Swedes, are the greatest names in cinema history. Bergman is today one of the best loved and most influ-ential filmmakers of all time. Among Bergman's masterworks are Wild Strawberries, Smiles of a Summer Night, The Seventh Seal, Scenes from a Marriage, and Fanny and Alexander.

And, of course, Sweden is home to the Nobel Prize. Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) , a Swedish chemist who invented dy-namite, estab-lished the Nobel prize which is awarded each year in five differ-ent categories: Chemistry, Physics, Medicine or Physi-ology, Literature, a n d P e a c e . In 1968, the Swedish National Treasury estab-lished a prize for economic science, dedicated to the memory of Alfred N o b e l a n d awarded each year with the

other prizes.

ART

Swedish art has an

eventful history. Sweden has had many famous art-ists, among them Johan Tobias Sergel, Carl Milles, Anders Zorn and Carl L a r s s o n . The art of Sweden has been influenced by culture and includes modern paintings and sculptures. The term Swedish art re-fers to the history of paint-ing and the visual arts in Sweden or by a Swedish artist. Swedish art has al-ways been influenced from around the world, but the influences have come from different geographi-cal regions in different ages. Swedish art is im-portant in Swedish culture and the cultural tradition of the Western World. The influences of Swedish art came from continental Europe, especially West-ern Europe: the other Nor-dic countries and coun-tries like France, Ger-

LITERATURE

Even those who have

never read a Swedish au-thor will know at least one of Swedish's literary hon-ors, the Nobel Prize awarded by the Swedish A c a d e m y . The Swedish written word has enriched the world with Selma Lagerlöf, and thriller authors like Hen-ning Mankell.

many and Italy. Swedish art is considered as an open field. A traditional theme in Swedish art, love of na-ture, was especially visi-ble in the works of late 19th century artists such as Anders Zorn (1860-1920), Carl Larsson (1853-1919) and Bruno L i l j e f o r s . Anders Leonard Zorn was one of Sweden’s foremost artists who obtained inter-national success as a painter and sculptor. Moreover, one of the most

famous Swedish-born

sculptor is Carl Milles

(1875-1955). He was best

-known for public sculp-

ture and large monu-

ments. His traditional

classical style seems

barely touched the devel-

opments in modern sculp-

ture which were happen-

ing around him. He was

the first artist to be given

an exhibition at the Tate

Gallery in London, even

though he was a non-

B r i t i s h a r t i s t .

Millesgården is now a mu-

seum, dedicated to the

d e c e a s e d a r t i s t .

You should know that

Milles studied art in Paris.

You are passionate about

art ?

Here are some museums

you should not miss..

You are not far from one

of this cities in Sweden,

here are museums you

have to visit:

In Gothenburg: Rohss

Museum for Design and

Applied Art

In Karlskrona: Museum

Lionardo da Vinci Ideale

In Stockholm:

- Nationalmuseum

- Kulturhuset Stockholm

- Moderna Museet

- Vasamuseet

In Sundlborn: Carl

Larsson-garden

THEATRE

J o n a s H a s s e n

Khemiri , a Swedish nov-elist and playwright, is considered as one of the most important Swedish writers of his generation thanks to his play Inva-sion When it opened in 2006, the play had been an immediate success! Khemiri writes in a spe-cial way, he doesn’t al-ways follow Swedish lan-guage rules like the sen-tences structures or the grammar. So, his work has been debated.

fives. You could think it’s a trite play, but the author knows how to make his play special. Indeed, he got involved

in the personality of each

character, and the moral

makes you think about

life. Like Khemiri said

“Language is the true

star of my plays.”

He found a new way to tell a story, he speaks about truth, identity race and language. With his last play Fem Ganger Gud (God times five) his notoriety is going to be spread all over the world. It’s actually played in many theatres in Swe-den. It sets, a drama teacher who wants to stage a classic play, A dream play from August Stind-berg with a student’s group. And, it’s not going to be easy, the pupils prefer play God and ex-press their own dreams and hope on stage. We totally advice you to read or to see God time

France in Sweden

The Glas Doctor, a

classic play has been traduced in French. It is currently playing at the French Institute in Stock-holm. Open to every-one, French public and Swedish one as well. The adaptation made by the actor John Paval is amazing !

F O O D

Sweden is famous

for the Smörgåsbord, a large buffet filled with fish, meats, cheeses , sa lads , omelets and sweets. Soups are also popu-lar in Sweden. Be-cause Sweden has

other vegetables. Ta-ble manners are im-portant to Swedes and they often use the phrase “tack for maten” (Thank you for the food).

many lakes and coasts, fish is essen-tial in the Swedish diet. However, be-cause of pollution, it has become quite ex-pensive. Fish is served in a variety of ways including pick-led, smoked and fresh. Herring is a common fish to Swe-den. Other common foods of Sweden in-clude cheese, sau-sage, potatoes and

The young and talented director, Andreas Öhman has just been nominated at Swe-den’s official Academy Award for his com-edy Simple Simon. Sam goes in a nervous breakdown after his girlfriend leaves him. His brother Simon tries to find him a girl-friend, so as to comfort him. But, Simon suffers from the Aspeger Symdrom...

How do you live, your movies' nomination at the Sweden’s Acad-emy Award? “Great and I feel immensely hon-oured! I’ve also noticed that I’m now shown a different kind of respect as a director. I find it hard to just sit back and enjoy what’s happening — I al-ways feel there are new things I could be doing, I always have new projects.” Why did you become a film direc-tor? “I’ve always been interested in lots of different things. So, it was difficult to choose what I really want to do. But eventually, I discovered that film-making combines imagery, music and theatre, and that suits me.” So what did you choose such a subject for your movie the Asper-ger syndrome ? “It started when I read a book about Asperger and got interested. I started to understand more about how people perceived the world differently. That’s the story I’m trying to tell, the film is

about different people, all of them very special in their own way.” But doesn’t it require courage to make a comedy about someone with this Syndrome? “I think you can joke about most things in life. As long as you do it in the right way. Humor is a tool for deal-ing with different issues.” What’s next ? “I think I’m going to dedicate me some time, to take care of myself. Anyhow, In few years I’ll certainly come back with a new movie.” Do you know what will be the sub-ject ? “I’ve got my own idea, but it’s a secret. You’ll see !” And finally, what do you like best about Sweden ? “Salmon ! *laughs* No seriously, what I like the best is that in Sweden you have plenty op-portunity to do what you like. And you feel secure in this country. While of course things could be better, at least there’s a kind of safety net — if you get into trouble you get help.”

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

ANDREAS ÖHMAN

2011

Hello CultWorld, I’m coming in Stockholm in May, and I was wondering if you could advice me some good festivals.

ISABELLE

You should go to the Ingmar Bergman Festival, many

activities are proposed:

plays exhibitions

outdoor cinema projections

debates about old movies

Or to Opera and Ballet Festival of Drottningholm Which

is a lyric festival. is held in a castle of the neighbourhood of Stockholm.

Hey, I would like to ask you for

you to realize a

special North-way CultWorld.

KARL

We’ve just made

a special Swe-

den, I think you will have to wait

before a special

Northway. The next is about

Great Britain.

Hi, CultWorld ! I love your magazine

and I wanted to know if it will possible

to subscribe to CultWorld. LISA

Lisa, CultWorld is a brand new maga-

zine. We didn’t set up the subscription

yet. But don’t worry, it will come soon.