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July/August 2018 Vol 89:06 $5.95
06 2018
FROM VIKINGS AND VINDRAGARE TO
WINE GROWING SWEDES
Swedish Vineyards Interview with SACC-NY President Svenskt Tenn
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4 Letters to the Editor 5 From the Editor’s Desk Swedish Headlines 6 Headline News: The Swedish Academy... Again! 7 Swedes in the News 8 Landskapsnyheterna Business 9 Business News: Turbulence in the Airline Industry 10 Company File: Bergström Wines
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Global Swedes 16 Anna Throne-Holst – President of the Swedish-American Chamber of Commere in New York Lifestyle 18 Top Sju 19 Skola: Allt fler internationella studenter vid Stockholms lärosäten Classics 20 Svenskt Tenn: Ten Textile Talents Hemma Hos 22 Design: The Winery Hotel is the first of its kind in Sweden 23 Treats à l’Amnegård
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CONTENTS ( July/August 2018 )
ART DIRECTOR Joan Law Joan@swedishpress.com
ADVISORY COMMITTEE Björn Bayley, Peter Ladner, Brian Antonson, Christer Garell, Anders & Hamida Neumuller
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Swedish Press
Photo courtesy: Bergström Wines
Heritage 11 Wine-making and Wine-drinking in Sweden: A Short History Feature 12 Herring, Meatballs and... Wine? Interview 14 An Interview with Vingården i Klagshamn
Swedish Press Connects 24 SCA – Swedish Council of America 25 SACC – Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce Road to 2045 26 Robin Hood Enters the Transport Sector In the Loop 27 Canada, US & Beyond 28 Calendar and Events 29 Ads and Info 30 Sista Ordet What About Those Jets, Eh? Cover image: Illustration of a wine label. © Andrey Kotko Above: The story of flowers” was created by Japanese design student Kotone Utsunomiya, in conjunction to Svenskt Tenn’s “Ten Textile Talents” exhibition in the spring of 2018. Left: Grapes to be crushed in old manual press. Photo © Byman Designs
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Letters to the Editor Hej Peter! Först och främst tack för en mycket bra tidskrift, snygg lay out, bra innehåll. Den ligger alltid väl tillgänglig för våra många besökare på generakonsulatet i San Francisco. TACK!! Läste naturligtvis artikeln om Leif Pagrotsky, en favorit, på mittuppslaget. Bra! Ville dock göra ett tillägg till rutan “Bakgrund”: Från 2009 till 2016 var GK NYC ett sk honorärt konsulat, som du så riktigt skriver, men ett MYCKET aktivt sådant med fem anställda, flera finns kvar i den “nya” uppgraderade versionen. David Dangoor var honorär generalkonsul och gjorde en heroisk, tidsödande och kostsam insats. Han fanns alltid till hands... och borde omtalas med både respekt och tacksamhet. Det vet jag att Leif skulle intsämma i! Med vänliga hälsningar, Barbro Osher Honorär Generalkonsul San Francisco
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GRATTIS PÅ FÖDELSEDAGEN July 24 Arram William Gavin, 7 år July 28 Amelia Neugebauer, 13 år Aug 15 Aksel Stano, 2 år Aug 19 Erik Jagrelius, 16 år Aug 21 Freya Stano, 4 år Aug 26 Annika Lara Gavin, 9 år Aug 30 Gunnar Trankalis, 14 år
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Editor’s comments: Hej Barbro, Hjärtligt tack både för din positiva återkoppling och för det viktiga tillrättaläggandet. Jag måste lära mig att i framtiden lita mindre på Wikipedia och Google som primära informationskällor! Varmaste sommarhälsningar, Peter Berlin
Hello Joan, On behalf of the Newport Beach Film Festival, we wanted to express our gratitude for representing the Swedish community for our event. We’re especially thankful for helping with outreach efforts for the Swedish spotlight via your newsletters. Because of your support, the Swedish and Swedish-lovers community got a taste of Swedish culture in watching the film, Ravens, and also enjoyed Swedish goods at the afterparty at TIME Nightclub. We hope to continue working with you and your organization for future NBFF events. Again, thank you for all your help in highlighting the beautiful country of Sweden. All the best, The Swedish Spotlight Newport Beach Film Festival, California Dear Swedish Press, I was taught to read verbal Skåne dialect Swedish circa 1900 by my grandmother and have lost most of that and trying to read modern Swedish has become impossible. Many years ago, I received an email link translation capability from Swedish Press; however, due to computer upgrades that has been lost. If possible, please fill in the data on the enclosed post card and return it to me. Note the email script will not let me put address
the proper punctuation on some of the letters. Tack, Evald Richard Eskilson Barnegat, New Jersey Editor’s comments: Hi Evald, Please visit http://biolson.atspace.cc/ swemail/ for the translation of the Swedish articles. Dear Joan, I would like to thank you very much for the encouragement and opportunity you gave to myself and brother Gary towards contributing an article about our Swedish roots and Swedish cuisine to Hemma Hos – Treats. Your patience, understanding and guidance during development was much appreciated. Being proud of our Swedish roots, it was a most satisfying and fun experience. Thanks again, to yourself and Swedish Press for this opportunity to contribute. Swedish Press just keeps getting better and better; and, I will always look forward to receiving each new issue, which allows me an informative and enjoyable window into Swedish society. Congratulations and thank you, Don Johnson Ottawa, Ontario Enjoy reading Swedish Press? Email us your pictures along with your name and comments to info@swedish press.com and we’ll be happy to publish them.
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from the Editor’s Desk
In the Footsteps of Bacchus and Dionysos We need your support!
Swedish Press strives to create a high quality magazine for you, but the costs are considerable and ever-increasing. Please consider making a generous donation to help keep your publication, and Swedish heritage, alive. You’ll find a form on page 29. Tack!
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S
urely one of life’s greatest pleasures is the process of choosing a bottle from the wine rack, studying the label, pulling the cork, listening to the glug-glugglug as the golden or ruby-red liquid is poured into a glass, catching a hint of its subtle fragrance, exploring the complex flavours on one’s tongue, taking a proper mouthful, and feeling one’s body becoming completely relaxed. A glass of wine feels like a well-deserved reward after the day’s many duties and chores. I have sometimes wondered why Swedish emigrants in the 19th century left the harsh circumstances at home only to settle down in even harsher conditions in the American Mid-West, at least as far as the climate went. Why didn’t they seek an easier life growing oranges in Florida or pineapples in California or grapes just about anywhere on the Niagara Peninsula or the Pacific coast? Well, the obvious answer is that they knew what they knew and were more focused on working the soil in a familiar environment than on having an easy life in the subtropics. (Besides, who is to say that growing oranges, pineapples and grapes is easy?) In this issue of Swedish Press we focus on some intrepid Swedes who have ventured into the wine-making business – not only in North America, but also in Sweden. Our coverage includes interviews with the owners and operators of Blaxsta Vingård south of Stockholm (page 23), Vingården i Klagshamn near Malmö (page 14), and Bergström Wines in Oregon (page 10). By way of background we include articles about the history and challenges of vine-growing and wine-making in Sweden (page 11). Our piece about the Winery Hotel in the Stockholm suburb of Solna concludes the wine theme (page 22). We also talk to Anna Throne-Holst, President of Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce in New York (SACC-NY) (page 16). In the Business News section we highlight the turbulence in the Scandinavian airline industry and describe the increasing use of forest products in house construction and fuel production (page 9). We also reflect on the latest status of import tariffs decreed by the White House and their effect on the Swedish steel industry. The sixth instalment in the ecology series Road to 2045 is titled Robin Hood Enters the Transport Sector (page 26). We feature the venerable Svenskt Tenn whose products and textiles are still relevant today (page 20). Lastly we drop in on Joe Daly, former goalie for the 1970’s Winnipeg Jets ice hockey team with its many expat Swedish players (page 30). Elsewhere in this edition we continue our coverage of events and institutions in Sweden, as well as in Swedish communities in North America. Valued readers, we will meet again in the September issue of Swedish Press. Feel free to send us your letters with news, thoughts and pictures from your spring and summer adventures for possible future publication in our Letters to the Editor section. And let us raise a glass of wine in celebration of den blomstertid nu kommer!
Peter Berlin Editor Peter@Swedishpress.com July 2018
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Swedish Headlines
] Some Like It Hot
The Swedish Academy… Again!
Italy to the Rescue
By Peter Berlin
W
e reported earlier on the sex scandal that has rocked the Swedish Academy and led to several of its members resigning in protest. The scandal has also resulted in the postponement of this year’s Nobel Prize in literature until 2019, so as to allow the dust to settle. The alleged perpetrator of the sexual assaults against 18 women is JeanClaude Arnault, the husband of one of the 18 members of the Academy. The international news media are now buzzing with the news that, in addition to the assaults, he is accused of having raped a woman twice in 2011, the first time using violence against her and the second time while she was asleep. Arnault denies the allegation, but the evidence is overwhelming and a court hearing is scheduled for this autumn. If convicted, Arnault could face up to six years in prison.
Water bomber type Bombardier 415. © Wikipedia
Traditionally, forest fires in Sweden have been fairly localized and readily extinguished with the help of bucketcarrying helicopters from the Swedish Armed Forces. But in 2014, exceptionally severe fires in the province of Västmanland saw vast tracts of forest burned, along with several homes. The helicopters were unable to cope, so Swedish authorities asked France and Italy to come to the rescue using fixedwing water bombers. However, it took so long for the aircraft to arrive that their usefulness was cast into doubt. A government inquest followed. The exceptionally warm and dry weather in central Sweden during May of this year has given rise to concern
Average temperatures in degrees Celsius in Stockholm in May. Source: SMHI
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for a repeat of the 2014 disaster. To be better prepared, the authorities have now contracted the Italian fire-fighting services to station two Bombardier 415 Superscooper water-bombers at Örebro Airport. The planes come with a crew of 14 and can load 6,200 litres of water at each pick-up from the nearest lake or ocean – far more than the 500 – 1,400 litres that the helicopters can carry. The planes will remain on call in Örebro for intervention anywhere in Sweden until further notice. Electric Swedes
Photo: Susam Yin
The sale of electric bicycles is growing exponentially in Sweden. 45,000 e-bikes were purchased between September 2015 and August 2016. During the same period the following year the figure was 67,500, and it is estimated that between 120,000 and 150,000 e-bikes will be sold in the current period. One reason for the growing popularity of e-bikes appears to be the helpful state subsidy amounting to 25 percent of the purchase price, up to a maximum of SEK 10,000 ($1,150). Another reason is a very Swedish tendency to follow the example of friends and neighbours. By leaving their cars at home, Swedes help save our planet, and by using e-bikes instead of regular bikes they exert less physical effort in the process.
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Swedes in the News
Swedish Celebrations, Honors and Music Royal Greeting
HRH Princess Estelle and HRH Prince Oscar on 6 June 2018. Photo: Linda Broström/Kungahuset.se
Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel’s children Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar wished the people of Sweden a happy National Day through a photograph from Haga Castle posted on the Swedish Royal Court’s website and Instagram on June 6. In the picture Princess Estelle, dressed in a traditional Swedish costume, sits close to her little brother – both fondly smiling into the camera. The royal family had a busy national day, handing out scholarships, overseeing the changing of the guards at the castle, visiting Strömsholm’s Castle and later in the evening Sollidenscenen at Skansen. Sweden’s National Day is an official day off work to celebrate all things Swedish. Honoring Sjöholm Swedish singer and actress Helen Sjöholm has been awarded the royal medal “Litteris et Artibus” for outstanding artistic efforts
as a singer and actor. The prestigious award, founded by King Karl XV and first presented in 1853, primarily honors artistic achievements in music and literature. Sjöholm is a singer in Benny Anderssons Orkester (BAO) and has appeared in numerous musicals, such as “Kristina från Duvemåla,” “Chess” and “My Fair Lady.” Sjöholm is also well-known for her portrayal of “Gabriella” in Kay Pollaks film “Så som i himmelen.” The Litteris et Artibus award was given out on June 12 at the Royal Palace.
Verizon at such an exciting and dynamic time for our company and industry,” Vestberg said in a statement.
Winnerbäck on Tour
Hans Vestberg
Roslings Legacy Bill Gates has decided to gift “Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think” by Swedish doctor and professor Hans Rosling to all college students graduating in the United States in 2018. Students will be able to download the book free
Helen Sjöholm.
Vestberg to Verizon Swedish business leader and former Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg has been appointed CEO of U.S telecommunications conglomerate Verizon Communications. Vestberg was hired by Verizon to work on the Network and Technology team in 2017 and is set to replace current Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam on August 1. “I am humbled to be appointed CEO of
Rosling’s son Ola Rosling, and daughter-in-law Anna Rosling Rönnlund, who both co-authored “Factfulness,” were happy with the news. Anna Rosling Rönnlund said Gates’ initiative was “a wonderful thing.”
Hans Rosling. Photo: Karolinska Institutet.
of charge once they have graduated. Gates said the book was “one of the most important books I’ve ever read – an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world.”
Swedish musician Lars Winnerbäck kicks off his two-month long Scandinavian summer tour at Linköping Arena in Linköping on June 29.
Lars Winnerbäck. Photo: Henrik Montgomery/TT
Winnerbäck grew up in Linköping and got his start in punk-band Snoddas. Since going solo in the mid-nineties Winnerbäck has earned seven “Grammisar,” five “Rockbjörnar” and five “P3 Guldpriser.” The talented musician, who writes and performs in Swedish, is well-known for hits like “Om du lämnade mig nu,” “I Stockholm” and “Elegi.” During his summer tour, Winnerbäck is being backed by a band and a big stage production. The tour ends at Zinkensdamms IP in Stockholm on August 25.
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[Landskapsnyheterna] SKÅNE För första gången sedan Lundakarnevalen hölls 1849 uppfördes i år en opera i modern tappning, musik till klassiker som Carmen med nyskriven text om en Svensson-familj som skulle äta pizza. Det blev en bejublad premiär med mycket sångkunniga studenter.
i centrala Lund under pågående återinförande av spårvagnar i staden. Karnevalerna hålls vart fjärde år, dock inhiberades den under pågående världskrig 1942. De samlar många tidigare Lundastudenter som av nostalgiska skäl gärna kommer tillbaka. Studentkarnevaler arrangeras också på gator och torg vart tredje år i Stockholm under namnet Quarnevalen, likaså vid Luleå Tekniska Universitet vid namn Kårtegen. Vidare finns festivaler för studentorkestrar udda år vid Linköpings universitet och jämna år vid Uppsala universitet. Valborgsmässoaftnar är det forsränning i Fyrisån i Uppsala och karnevalen Cortègen i Göteborg. Bland större karnevaler i Nordamerika finns den i Montreal samt de i Mardi Gras och Notting Hill i USA. Karnevalen i Rio de Janeiro är med all säkerhet den mest kända i världen.
LAPPLAND NORRBOTTEN
VÄSTERBOTTEN
JÄMTLAND
HÄRJEDALEN
ÅNGERMANLAND
MEDELPAD HÄLSINGLAND
DALARNA GÄSTRIKLAND VÄSTMANLAND VÄRMLAND
NÄRKE
UPPLAND
SÖDERMANLAND
DALSLAND ÖSTERGÖTLAND BOHUSLAND VÄSTERGöteborg GÖTLAND SMÅLAND HALLAND SKÅNE
Stockholm
GOTLAND ÖLAND
BLEKINGE
Malmö
Lundakarnevalen 2018. Foto: Johan Carlson
De tre karnevalsdagarna 17-19 maj samlade uppemot 400 000 åskådare till parken Lundagård där studenter också uppförde Obsoleto, en parodi på cirkusar. Vidare ett minispex, revy, kabaré och show samt för de yngsta en Barneval, det mesta näst intill professionellt utfört av studenter. Men den stora publiken kantade gatorna i centrala Lund under lördagens och söndagens karnevalståg med nästan 1500 studenter i ett 30-tal ekipage som roade åskådarna med parodier på verkligheten. Donald Trump var ett självklart föremål för sarkasmer. Mer eller mindre fyndiga klacksparkar utdelades som vanligt mot Uppsala universitet och mot Malmö Lekskola, alltså högskolan som nyligen blivit universitet trots begränsad forskning (enligt Lundastudenterna). En vagn i karnevalståget påminde om ”Danska Skåne”, det är 360 år sedan Skåne blev svenskt. En grävskopa skildrade problemen med gatuspärrar
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Henric Borgström är ekonomijournalist, grundare av det dagliga radioprogrammet Ekonomi-Ekot i P1 Sveriges Radio och numera Nordenkorrespondent för den finlandssvenska tidskriften Forum för Ekonomi och Teknik i Helsingfors. Blogg: henricborgstrom.wordpress.com
SMÅLAND Den 14 maj skrev Växjö kommun, skogsföretaget Södra, flygbolaget KLM, flygbiobränslespecialisten SkyNRG, Luleå tekniska universitet och tankesmedjan Fores med 2030sekretariatet under en gemensam avsiktsförklaring med inriktningen att få igång lokal produktion av biobränsle för flyg. Det bästa stället i Sverige att producera biobränsle för flyg är i Småland, anser Fredrik Granberg från Luleå tekniska universitet. Skogsindustrin är stark här, med god tillgång till skogsavfall och biprodukter från sågverk.
Därtill växer skogen mycket snabbare än i norra Sverige, vilket enligt LTU är en viktig fördel. Växjö kommun, som vann 2018 års European Green Leaf Award från EUkommissionen, har som klimatmål att bli helt fossilbränslefritt till 2030. I motsats till många andra kommuner räknar man in allt bränsle som tankas i kommunen, inklusive flygbränslet. Det är en stark drivkraft för omställningen, anger kommunalrådet Per Schöldberg som förstås gärna skulle se biobränsleproduktion inom kommunen. Men trots kommunens ambitioner är det troligare att produktionsanläggningen hamnar i en hamnstad och därtill gärna en där Södra har en större anläggning, som Mönsterås. Själva bränslet lär hamna på Växjö flygplats, inte minst för att Södra nyligen utlovat att betala merkostnaden för bioflyg för sina egna resor, och Växjö är deras hemflygplats. Källa: 2030-sekretariatet
[Business] News A Rocky Road Ahead Turbulence in the Airline Industry
D
By Peter Berlin espite reporting a loss of SEK 499m ($56m) in 2017, SAS has ordered the new long-range airliners A321LR and A350 from Airbus in order to serve additional markets in North America and Asia. For the first time, Canada figures in the planning with Montreal and Toronto as possible destinations. Meanwhile, Norwegian Air Shuttle (trading as Norwegian) continues to expand its fleet and its network at a rate that is causing nervousness among its shareholders. In 2000 the airline served only the domestic market with just six aircraft. Today it has more than 150, with another 200 on order. It has an extensive European network and also flies to the U.S. Next in line are destinations in South America and Asia. However, the carrier’s debt load is steadily increasing, and the worry is that the company is overextending itself. As a result, the share price has
Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT
dropped by 30 percent in the last year at a time when other major airlines have done reasonably well. The carrier may be a Norwegian company, but it is firmly rooted in the Swedish travel market with non-stop flights from Stockholm to New York, Boston, Miami, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Trade War Part III On June 1, the United States implemented the anticipated and much dreaded tariffs on steel and aluminium products imported from America’s most trusted allies: Canada, Mexico and the European Union. Sweden is an E.U. member state. Around 45,000 people depend on the Swedish steel sector for their jobs. Because the sector is already very lean and efficient, the risk of major job cuts is deemed small even in an all-out trade war scenario. However, individuals who hold shares in Swedish steel companies are already seeing their investments eroded as the value of their share portfolios takes a hit in the current environment of uncertainty.
Bullish Wood and Pulp Market For 28 months in a row, Swedish forestry products are experiencing a price boom. The drive towards an eco-friendly society is stimulating increased use of renewable and climate-smart wood as a replacement for concrete in the construction of apartment blocks, thereby “trapping” carbon dioxide inside buildings rather than releasing it into the atmosphere. Pulp derived from wood goes into making paper, and paper is beginning to replace plastics in packaging worldwide. The market price for pulp has reached a record $1,200 per ton The Swedish company SCA has recently inaugurated a new refinery for biofuels. The installation will start making diesel fuel from wood products rather than petroleum, and a plant for producing airplane fuel may soon follow suit. Bank Revolt Visit one of the major Swedish banks to deposit or withdraw cash from your bank account, and you will likely be met with a blank stare. A more sympathetic teller might point you in the direction of a cash dispenser outside, but they, too, are becoming scarce. Now, at last, the parliamentappointed Central Bank Committee is raising a red flag on the grounds that it is not for private enterprises such as banks to abolish cash as a payment method. The Committee’s advice to parliament and the government is that, in the near term, all banks that offer bank account facilities should be obliged by law to receive and dispense cash anywhere in the country. The longer-term role of cash in society should also be debated within a political framework, rather than being left to private entities.
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Company File
Bergström Wines: How to Take Risks – and Succeed By Peter Berlin
O
regon’s Willamette Valley brings to mind the south of France. The lush, 150-mile long valley is surrounded by mountains on three sides – the Cascade Range to the east, the Oregon Coast Range to the west, and the Calapooya Mountains to the south. The climate of the Willamette Valley is characterized by very dry and mostly cloudless summers, ranging from warm to occasionally very hot, followed by cool, rainy, and consistently cloudy winters. The precipitation pattern is classic Pacific Northwest with what is known as “cool climate growing conditions.” In other words, ideal for growing grapes and making wine. In the Swedish province of Härjedalen, a Swedish boy called Johnny Bergström grew up on a farm. The only schooling available in the nearby village was 6 grades of grundskola. At the age of 14 he became a logger, a job he kept for four years. “I lived on a most isolated little farm,” he now recalls. “I lived with my mother and my father, two uncles and an aunt, my grandmother and my grandfather, all in one small farmhouse. So it was very cosy! It was about six miles from the closest village. There was no road into this place. Everything was carried in on foot or horseback. We had no electricity, no telephone.”
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The Bergström Vineyards are located in the Willamette Valley in the state of Oregon. Photo: Bergström Wines
Johnny began to dream of a more rewarding life in America. He was invited to come and live with his childless Swedish aunt and her husband in Portland, Oregon, and arrived there just before turning 18. They put him through high school, and then he put himself through college and medical school. He trained to become a surgeon, met a girl called Karen and married her. Together they ran a successful medical practice for many years and had five children. Johnny (or John) clearly wasn’t sitting on his hands. But after all those years in medicine, he began to long back to his roots – not to Sweden, but to Nature and working the soil. In the Willamette Valley he and Karen found their Garden of Eden near the town of Dundee in the shape of a 13-acre south-facing hillside. John figured it could be developed into a vineyard which would yield some respectable wines. In the back of his mind was a desire to
start a business that would become a viable legacy for his children. In time, the grapes grew and his vineyard produced an exquisite Pinot Noir wine which became a commercial success. John and his son Josh acquired four more estate vineyards totalling 84 acres in the vicinity and added Chardonnay to their grape and wine assortment. Today, Josh is general manager, winemaker and vineyard manager, while his wife Caroline is in charge of sales. Each of the five estate vineyards is biodynamically farmed. The winery produces approximately 10,000 cases of ultra-premium, extremely sought-after wine each year, including two Chardonnays and nine different Pinot Noirs. The Bergström Vineyards welcome visitors who can choose between various guided tour arrangements, all of which culminate in wine-tasting. Check www. bergstromwines.com for the different tour options. One of the tasting options includes a pairing menu designed by Josh and Caroline featuring seasonal, locally sourced gourmet bites. Bottles of Bergström Pinot Noir or Chardonnay wine are priced in the range $35 – $100. Meanwhile, John and Karen travel the world sharing Bergström wines and its vision with fellow wine enthusiasts. “You can always start something no matter how old you are,“ says John. “You have to take some risks in life. You can’t hit a homerun if you are afraid that you are going to strike out. I think that is a lesson which I hope my children and grandchildren will learn.”
H E RI TAG E
From Vikings and Vindragare to Wine Agents Wine-making and Wine-drinking in Sweden: A Short History By Peter Berlin
T
he Swedish climate has always been too cold for grapevines to grow naturally in the wild. That said, there are reports of particularly hardy vines having been cultivated in monastery gardens when the Catholic church established monasteries in Sweden from the 10th century onwards. Vines have also been cultivated on a small scale in orangeries and greenhouses, as well as outdoors in favourable micro-climates, such as those found in the vicinity of southfacing walls. However, the grapes harvested from such vines were intended for direct consumption rather than wine production. Other countries situated at relatively high latitudes – notably England, Denmark and Canada – began experimenting with winemaking in the late 20th century. Two factors have contributed to this development: • The elaboration of hybrid grapes which are more apt to thrive in cold climates and also require a shorter maturation time between flowering and harvest than grapes grown at more southern latitudes. Many such hybrids have been developed at the Staatliches Weinbauinstitut Freiburg in Germany with a view to making them more resistant against various diseases such as fungus. The tolerance to colder climates is a fortuitous byproduct.
• New cultivation methods developed primarily in Canada and specially adapted to protect the vines in colder climates. There has also been speculation that global warming may further benefit the establishment of vineyards at northern latitudes. In the 1990s some wine enthusiasts decided to establish vineyards on a commercial scale in Sweden. These pioneers found their inspiration partly from their own experiences working abroad in wine-producing countries, and partly from studying the techniques employed primarily in Denmark which had a head start in commercial wine-making. In Sweden, the cultivation of vines suitable for wine-making has gained traction mainly in the province of Skåne. The Swedish wine-making tradition using Swedish grapes may only be 20 years old, but the taste for wine-drinking among Swedes goes back much further. The Vikings brought back wine from their extensive travels south. A more consistent importation of wine from abroad began as the Vikings were converted to Christianity and wine
became an essential for Communion. But only the church, the royal court and the upper echelons of aristocracy could afford the expensive import. During the 15th century, when incoming ships carrying wine tied up at Skeppsbron in Stockholm, they were met by so-called vindragare. These were sturdy men who rolled the barrels, weighing typically 800 kg (1760 lbs), from the ships to the city’s wine cellars. In 1917 the Swedish government created a monopoly for the importation, export and fabrication of wine and spirits through the Vin& Spritcentralen. The monopoly was abolished in 1994 as a condition for Sweden’s entry into the European Union. Today there are several hundred wine agents who provide an ever-growing selection of imported wine – but only to licensed restaurants and to the Systembolaget which retains a monopoly for retail sales to the general public. This monopoly also applies to wine produced in Sweden, to the chagrin of Swedish wine-makers who are prohibited from selling their own bottled wine over the counter.
Photo: Systembolaget
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Herring, Meatballs and… Wine? By Peter Berlin
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hinking about European wine evokes images of sun-drenched vineyards adorning rolling hills in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece. If we exercise our imagination some more, we might also include Switzerland, Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria – and even England and Denmark at a stretch. So what about Sweden? Sweden… surely not! Well, this may come as a surprise to most people, including the Swedes themselves. Look up Svenska viner on Swedish Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.se), and you will find that wine production began in earnest in the late 1990s. Dig deeper – which means consulting the Systembolaget catalog – and one discovers six Swedish red wines and 28 white wines from as many major vineyards, most of them located in the provinces of Skåne, Öland and Gotland. Other information sources indicate nearly 4,000 vineyards in Sweden, including experimental and hobby enterprises.
Having done the basic research, the next step is to buy a few bottles to see how the wine tastes. Chances are that a small-town Systembolaget has none at all in stock. Go to one of the bigger outlets, and you may be lucky to find two or even three bottles of the elusive
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elixir, usually priced in the SEK 150 – 300 range ($17 – $35). Small volumes, low yields and high costs explain why Swedish wines retail at three times the price of French or Italian.
The moment of truth arrives when one pulls the cork, pours a sample and lets one’s taste buds loose. Surprise! The result is a perfectly respectable continental European table wine.
Swedish vineyards typically occupy a half-dozen acres of land and yield a few thousand bottles of wine per year. Many of the larger vineyards offer guided tours, during which the process of wine-making and the challenges in doing so in the Swedish context are explained. A few vineyards even offer luxury hotel accommodation, first-class dinners and relaxing bubble-baths, allowing visitors to turn the experience into a romantic escape. Other vineyards invite the general public to come along and lend a hand during the harvesting season.
If you are in Sweden and are interested in learning more about Swedish wine-growing, you might be interested in joining a guided bus tour to selected vineyards in Skåne. The price of just under SEK 2000 ($230) per person includes transport, guided tours by professional sommeliers, wine-tasting, and lunch. For more details visit www.gavelinwine.com.
Sweden is the only E.U. member country that maintains a strict State monopoly when it comes to the sale of alcoholic beverages to the general public. Hence the Systembolaget. The stated aim is to keep alcohol consumption under control. By a remarkable coincidence, the monopoly also guarantees the State a handsome steady income. Swedish wine producers have long been lobbying for a change in the law, so that they are at least allowed to sell their own alcohol over the farm counter. That battle has yet to be won, because the teetotaller lobby is even more influential in the government.
The dominant green grape variety in Swedish white wines is the Solaris, which prefers cooler climates. Like most modern grape varieties, it has a sprawling family tree. Its immediate parents are the Mertzling and Geisenheim 6493 grapes. Mertzling resulted from crossing Seyve-Villard with a Riesling/Pinot gris hybrid, while the Greisenheim is derived from Zarya Severa (Russian for Northern Lights) and Muscat Ottonel. Solaris is a hardy grape variety that ripens early in the fall and resists fungus diseases and winter frost. In cool climates it yields a dry white wine which is particularly well suited as a seafood complement.
Other green grapes sometimes used to make Swedish wine include Phönix, Souvignier Gris, Orion and Seyval Blanc. These are typically blended with Solaris to achieve a degree of fruitiness or sweetness. On the red wine side of the business, the grape varieties Rondo, Siramé, Léon Millot and Regent predominate. Rondo is a cross between Zarya Severa and St Laurent, while Siramé is a relatively recent Swiss hybrid. Léon Millot’s parents have the noble-sounding names Millardet et Grasset and Goldriesling. Lastly, Regent boasts European and American ancestors. All of them resist winter frost and downy mildew, and are therefore well suited for wine-making at northern latitudes.
Not all Swedish wine uses Swedish grapes. Imported raw materials usually come not in the form of grapes, but as grape juice which is fermented in Sweden in the normal fashion. When buying “Swedish” wine at the Systembolaget, it is worth paying close attention to the label to detect the actual origin of the grape juice. By international convention, the true origin of a wine should refer to the country where the vines are grown and the grapes are harvested, rather than to the country where the juice is processed and bottled.
Perhaps one of the few benefits of global warming is that, over time, a wider range of grape varieties will find its way to Northern Europe. Who knows – perhaps some day Sweden will rise above the table wine class and become a serious contender in the race to excite connoisseurs around the world.
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An Interview with Vingården i Klagshamn By Lara Andersson
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ena Jörgensen and Murat “Murre” Sofrakis of Vingården i Klagshamn (the Vineyard in Klagshamn) are wine lovers, through and through. As such, they had often considered moving abroad to test the waters of vintnery in USA or Spain, but when
Above: “Murre” Sofrakis of Vingården i Klagshamn. Right: Vingården i Klagshamn.
Sweden officially became a wine country by EU regulation in 1999, the pair decided to stay put and start their own vineyard at home, in the small neighborhood of Klagshamn south of Malmö. While many might consider winegrowing in the north an exotic propo-
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sition, Lena and Murre explain that Southern Sweden, Gotland, Öland and several areas along the coastline, and even inland, provide hospitable terroir for planting and cultivating grapes. “Our climate with its relatively cool summers and long days gives perfect conditions for ripening grapes,” they say. “The slow maturation process makes the aromas develop slowly, and the balance between sugar and acid is kept in perfect harmony. The freshness of our wines is pretty unique. Even if our wines contain 15 percent alcohol (and sometimes 16 percent), they still have a refreshing acidity.” Their goal when it comes to wine production is not to replicate wines elsewhere, but to make the best wines possible, given the Swedish soil and climate. Still, “inspiration is mostly found in other European wine countries, and the relatively short distance to France and Germany makes it a natural inspiration trip,” they explain. After rigorous testing of at least a couple hundred different grape varieties, Murre and Lena decided to use 85
percent Solaris grape, and the other 15 percent a mixture of Cabernet Cortis and Rondo. Though the vineyard is not ecologically certified, the farming practices follow a mindful, ecological philosophy: Seaweed fertilizers are collected from the Malmö municipality, and horse manure as well as organic fertilizers from Klagshamn’s Equestrian Association and other local horse farms. The vineyard has not employed chemical fungicides since 2010, but – since the wine comes first – reserves the right to do so, thereby forgoing an official stamp of ecological certification. The Nordic environment doesn’t seem to present many difficulties when it comes to winegrowing and production, but the State monopoly on the sale of alcoholic beverages through Systembolaget makes it a bit challenging to market. The finished bottle can’t be passed directly from the farmer to the consumer, like in Tuscany and most other vineyards in the world, but must instead be delivered to a specific Systembolag or restaurant.
Photo © Nick Parfitt/Tourism in Skåne
“Our sales,” say Murre and Lena, “are 85 percent to Systembolaget and 10 percent to restaurants, while 5 percent is exported.” You can find a list of restaurants that stock their wine, as well as their wine selections on Vingården i Klagshamn’s webpage (see below). In addition to cultivating their own signature wines, Lena and Murre offer their expertise to other Swedes interested in starting their own vineyards. A consultation with them can cover anything from choosing the right type of grape and scouting the proper location, to deciding binding technique, vine orientation and distance, and fertilizer. Throughout the years, Vingården in Klagshamn has aided fledgling and established wineries alike, though they primarily focus on collaborating with beginners. As they state on their homepage, it is essential to establish your farm properly from
the outset, otherwise it can prove extremely difficult to grow wine in Sweden. Beyond giving sage advice, Lena and Murre are authorized by the Swedish Board of Agriculture to resell both grafted and own-rooted plants. For those seeking the equipment needed to produce wine, the duo partners with Stainless Steel Product Ltd in Slovenia and Speidel GmbH in Germany to supply equipment such as yeasting tanks, presses, bacteria cultures, and more. Vingården i Klagshamn is a small family operation (1.8 hectares) with only 4 people working. “Our low yields (3000 litres per hectare, which translates to roughly 5-6,000 bottles per year) guarantee a good concentration in the grape, which gives our wines richness in both aromas and taste.” Any labor involving their vines and grapes is carried out by hand, to further ensure that only the highest quality grapes make it into the finished product. “If you decide to put a grape in the harvesting bucket, you must be prepared to put the same grape in your mouth,” they quip on their website. Summer is the prime season for visiting Vingården i Klagshamn, but interested parties should act quickly. “We allow groups to visit us by appointment, but we are not a tourist center and therefore we only take a couple of groups a week.” This year, the vineyard will harvest earlier than expected, so it is only possible to book a visit up until week 34 (the week of August 20th.) Contact info@ vingardeniklagshamn.se, website www. vingardeniklagshamn.se.
During the last few years, Vingården i Klagshamn has awarded the distinction “Swedish Wine Ambassadors” to persons who have manifested an exceptional level of engagement in the promotion of Swedish wine. In 2017 the distinction was shared between Carina Olofsson Gavelin and Sveneric Svensson. Carina is a sommelier, Certified Educator Sud de France Master LanguedocRoussillon, advisor, and travel agent. Sveneric is a vintner and author, and is also the Chairman of the Swedish Wine Association,. The jury offered the following justifications: “Carina has for many years guided and trained members of the world’s largest wine organisation, the Munskänkarna, on the subject of Combining Food & Wine. Through her company Gravelinewine she has employed her vast knowledge to educate people in matters related to food and wine. In her capacity of travel agent, she has enabled people to discover Swedish wines by introducing them to Sweden’s biggest festival of Swedish wines, and also by arranging the Skånska Vinresor tours of vineyards in the province of Skåne. Sveneric has published the first complete Swedish handbook of wine production – the Handbok för vinmakaren. He has also founded an enterprise for wine analysis, participated in an advisory role, established a framework for judging wines, and continued in the role of Chairman of the Swedish Wine Association.” Source: www.vinvagen.se
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‘Sustainability is a passion of mine, and...’
Global S
Anna Throne-Holst, President of the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce in New York
Anna Throne-Holst has a master’s degree in public administration and international affairs. She has previously worked at the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping. In 2008 she became a member of the Southampton Town Board on Long Island. After serving as a board member for two years, she won election to the position of town supervisor. She was re-elected to the position two more times. She chose not to run for re-election as town supervisor in 2015. Instead she opted to run as a Democratic candidate for Congress but was not elected. On April 4, 2018, she took up her position as President of SACC-NY.
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Please tell us about your background and how you became interested in public service. My grandfather, Johan ThroneHolst, was a Norwegian political activist. He was also the founder of the very successful Norwegian chocolate manufacturing brand Freia, as well as the equally wellknown Swedish brand name Marabou. I was born in Norway of an American mother and a Swedish father, grew up in Sweden and have spent my adult life in America. As for my interest in public service, my parents instilled in me the notion that one has a duty to give something back to society. What prompted you to transition from being the Town Supervisor of Southampton to becoming the President of SACC-NY? Towards the end of my term as Town Supervisor, I ran for Congress. However, when the Democrats lost the 2016 presidential election, I also failed to be elected. I was approached by SACC-NY to serve as their President, so I seized the opportunity to manage and help modernize this venerable 112-yearold organization with its 13 fulltime staff and the chance to circle back to my Swedish roots. Please describe your day-to-day activities at SACC-NY. We have basically three activity
streams. The first is communications and outreach whereby we organize some 50 events every year, such as the classic Swedish holiday get togethers, like kräftskivor and Lucia festivities, but we are mostly focused on B2B networking and business development events, which make up the very large majority of our events roster, including conferences on a variety of topics ranging from innovation to sustainability. The third stream is serving as a launch pad for Swedish companies that wish to establish themselves in the United States. To assist them, as well as help connect and better serve our large corporate members, we are launching a 20,000 square foot innovation platform with desks, office and conferencing space. We also publish newsletters and maintain a website. So that gives you an idea what my working day looks like. How are Swedish businesses and business people viewed in New York? Very favourably. U.S. venture capitalists are particularly keen on Swedish start-ups because of their innovation, high quality, dedication to sustainability, and gender equality. It also helps that Swedish companies tend to be undervalued compared to their American equivalents, which makes them attractive for
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Putting Sweden on the Map Abroad
l Swedes
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‘.... I am committed to the green agenda.’
investment. There is no doubt that their predecessors, the large well known and established Swedish corporations like Sandvik, Volvo, Ericson, etc have paved the way! How are the regional chambers of SACC-USA financed? Mainly through membership, sponsorship, and event fees. The SACC-USA Trainee Program provides U.S. companies with interns and trainees from Sweden. Does the program also work the other way around (from the U.S. to Sweden), and is SACC-NY actively involved? The answer is yes. SACC-NY currently has three Swedish students in scholarship programs here in New York, as well as an equal number of apprentices. We also support a program sending US students to apprentice in Sweden. On June 1 the White House implemented the dreaded tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the E.U. This will presumably upset Swedish industry, particularly in the steel sector. Will it also have an effect on the work of SACC-NY? It already has, in the sense that we receive many queries on the tariffs and their consequences for Swedish
-American trade. I personally have always been a strong advocate of open and free trade, and write and speak on the subject frequently. By implementing the tariffs, the U.S. Administration is demonstrating a great deal of ignorance about the benefits of free trade. It also remains to be seen what of this will in fact “stick” and not get reversed. How does SACC-NY coordinate and collaborate with the other SACC regional chambers in the United States? With the launch of our Gateway platform we will be offering them free access to our facilities and all the related events at no charge. In our newsletter we pass on information that the other chambers wish to disseminate through our network, and we also refer start-up companies to them if the nature of their business seems better suited in their regions, rather than New York. But there is more to do in the way of creating synergy among the regional chambers. Does SACC-NY cooperate with other Swedish organizations active in North America? Emphatically yes! We are very active in Team Sweden USA, which is a network of government authorities, agencies and companies that all work to promote Swedish exports abroad.
According to a newspaper article, you are “carbon-footprint conscientious.” Tell us about your preoccupation with global warming, green energy and related ecological issues. This is a passion of mine, and I am committed to the green agenda. For example, as Town Supervisor I was the chief instigator behind Southampton’s bold “green code” legislation for new buildings and pools. I also saw to it that our Town became the first to ban plastic shopping bags and also founded The NYS Clean Water Technology incubator at SUNY. I think it is important to help Americans understand that pursuing a green agenda can also be profitable expressed in dollars and cents, and is therefore good for business. Sweden and Swedish businesses are a great showcase for that! How old are your children? Are they fluent in Norwegian or Swedish, in addition to English? My sons are 24, 29 and 31 years old, and my foster child is 29. The boys all speak Swedish and English. Do you maintain ties with Sweden? Absolutely! My frequent travels to Sweden on business give me a welcome opportunity to keep in close contact with my siblings and old friends. Interviewed by Peter Berlin
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[Lifestyle]
Top Sju
31 Mega retailer H&M has released their first ever Pride collection to celebrate love and show support for the HBTQ (homosexual, bisexual, trans and queer) community. The collection includes glittery shorts, pastel colored sweaters, t-shirts, tanktops, fanny packs and hats (some with rainbows and empowering statements like “Equality,” “United,” “Pride” and “Lover Fighter.”) Ten percent of proceeds goes towards the United Nations Human Rights Office campaign “Free Equal,” which supports the HBTQ community. The collection was released in stores and online on May 31.
3 Rosé lovers take note! The “Rosé truck” (Rosétrucken) hits the road this summer offering fine wine to what currently consists of three lucky cities; Stockholm, Gothenburg and Falun. The truck, created in collaboration with Grande Recolte from Château de Berne in France, will stop at various restaurants while on tour and is also available for rent for corporations looking to put on an extraordinary event. Apart from a table,
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chairs and lots of rosé wine, clients who rent the truck will also enjoy their very own sommelier.
13,000
Uppsala-based bookstore “The English Bookshop” has been named “International Excellence Bookstore of the Year” by The London Book Fair. The prestigious title of world’s best bookshop has previously been given to Shakespeare & Co in Paris, but this year Sweden has impressed. The English Bookshop features over 13,000 titles – each handpicked by clients, publishers or at book fairs. The English Bookshop also takes pride in that its staff will for sure be able to tell you something about the book you have chosen.
16 Stinky news ahead! The premiere of “surströmming” takes place on Thursday August 16. If you’ve ever tried the traditional dish of Surströmming (fermented Baltic Sea herring) you are aware that it has a strong, quite unpleasant smell, as well as salty taste. The fermented Baltic Sea herring has, however, been part of the traditional
northern Swedish cuisine since the 16th century. It is commonly eaten on a flat bread paired with buttery potatoes, cheese, tomatoes, sour cream and onions.
1 Enjoy an evening full of fun, laughter and singing this summer! Comedic theater performance “Pilsner och Penseldrag” is coming to Vallarnas friluftsteater’s outdoor stage in Falkenberg, Halland County on the Swedish west coast on Sunday July 1. The ensemble, which for example consists of a confused senior lady and two bachelors, is played by familiar – and very funny – actors including Claes Månsson, Jojje Jönsson, Siw Carlsson, Mikael Riesebeck and Ing-Marie Carlsson. “Pilsner och Penseldrag” will be performed until August 12.
35 Swedish airline SAS came in 35th place in a survey conducted by consumer advocate Airhelp. The survey
focused on 72 international airlines and rated them on punctuality, convenience and claims compensation. This year marks the sixth consecutive year that Europe-based Airhelp has conducted a survey (based on, for example, statistics and reviews by passengers) of the world’s best and worst airlines. SAS was praised for its ability to treat/handle customers during delayed or cancelled flights. Qatar Airways was ranked first while Nordic based Norwegian Airlines was rated 12th.
12 Nora, Ystad and Visby came out on top when Swedish evening newspaper Expressen’s travel site “Allt om Resor” put together a list of Sweden’s 12 most beautiful cities and resorts, ranging from south to north. The site’s staff listed Stockholm as Sweden’s most beautiful city followed by Visby, Gotland; Nora, Västmanland; Ystad, Skåne; Vadstena, Östergötland; Mariefred, Södermanland; Karlskrona, Blekinge; Östersund, Jämtland; Helsingborg, Skåne; Kalmar, Småland; Halmstad, Halland; and – last but not least – beautiful Kiruna in Lappland.
[Lifestyle] Skola Allt fler internationella studenter vid Stockholms lärosäten Av Sandra Widh
Det har nu blivit än mer populärt bland utländska studenter att läsa i Stockholm. Antalet har ökat med 14 procent under de senaste två åren. Flest antal har Stockholms universitet medan Handelsghögskolan ligger högst sett till andel studenter.
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dag läser närmare 9300 internationella studenter från 66 olika länder vid Stockholms lärosäten, vilket motsvarar nästan 10 procent av Stockholms studenter. Av alla inresande studenter kommer 5 procent från Nordamerika. Det visar en ny undersökning gjord av analysföretaget Stockholms Akademiska Forum (Staf ) som tittat på den internationella studentmobiliteten i Stockholm under läsåret 2016/2017. Flest antal studenter har Stockholms universitet (3 826) tätt följt av Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (3 063) och Karolinska Institutet (831). – Inför kursstart till hösten 2018 har andelen internationella studenter som antagits till våra magisterprogram ökat med hela 35 procent jämfört med i fjol. Detta intygar att vi är ett eftertraktat val, säger Peter Wretling, Avdelningsdirektör vid Antagningsenheten på Stockholms universitet.
International students in Stockholm. Photo: Stockholm University/Niklas Björling
Att huvudstaden är en mycket populär studentstad bekräftas också av Times Higher Education som under våren placerat Stockholm som världens fjärde främsta universitetsstad, tillsammans med New York. – Starka siffror som återspeglar att Stockholm är en väldigt attraktiv studentstad, säger Maria Fogelström Kylberg, vd för Staf. Handelshögskolan är det lärosäte som har flest studenter sett till andel, där hela 27 procent utgörs av inflyttade studenter. Sett till procentuell förändring jämfört med föregående år har de den största ökningen bland universiteten med 12 procent. – Vi har under flera år sett att vår strategi och vårt hårda arbete för att internationalisera Handelshögskolan gett resultat, och vi är glada att denna positiva trend håller i sig, säger Katarina Hägg, vice president för externa relationer på Handelshögskolan i Stockholm. De flesta som kommer för att läsa i Stockholm är från Tyskland,
Finland och Kina. Den fjärde största gruppen är från Frankrike där antalet ökat med 12 procent sedan föregående läsår. USA placerar sig på nionde plats med en ökning på 13 procent. Men den grupp som ökat mest är indiska studenter, med hela 21 procent. – Vi ser att en blandning av svenska och internationella studenter ger en dynamisk studiemiljö, där studenterna möter en mångfald av perspektiv och på så vis får bästa möjliga förutsättningar för en framtida internationell karriär, säger Katarina Hägg. Vid Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (KTH) kommer de flesta utländska studenterna från Kina. Vid Stockholms universitet och Karolinska Institutet är det istället studenter från Finland som dominerar. De tyska studenterna väljer i första hand Handelshögskolan. – KTH är väl ansedd internationellt och Stockholm som varumärke blir bara starkare. Vi är stolta över att ha både svenska, europeiska, nordamerikanska och asiatiska studenter här hos oss, säger Stefan Östlund, vice rektor för globala relationer vid KTH. 10-i-topp över internationella studenter i Stockholm läsåret 2016-2017 1. Tyskland (725) 2. Finland (689) 3. Kina (659) 4. Frankrike (483) 5. Indien (333) 6. Italien (331) 7. Spanien (281) 8. Grekland (270) 9. USA (261) 10. Nederländerna (248)
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[Classics]
Svenskt Tenn: Ten Textile Talents By Tatty Maclay
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t’s a rare Swedish home that doesn’t include a touch of Svenskt Tenn – whether it’s an original armchair covered in the iconic ‘Aramal’ print or some Ikea curtains in Josef Frank-inspired bright, botanical
All photos: Svenskt Tenn
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Swedish Press | July/August 2018 20
Josef Frank, ca 1960.
Estrid Ericson.
fabric. Their timeless quality ensures that Svenskt Tenn products and textiles are still relevant today – often the only splash of colour and pattern in more typically subdued Scandinavian interiors. Josef Frank, the Austrian/Swedish architect and artist who was the company’s most influential designer, remains an inspiration for textile designers all over the world. Of Jewish ancestry, Frank fled Vienna for Stockholm in 1933 and began working for Svenskt Tenn in 1934. His long working relationship with the company’s founder Estrid Ericson was extremely fruitful; the company’s archives contain some 2,000 furniture sketches and 160 textile prints designed by Frank. Recently, Svenskt Tenn invited ten young design students from four countries – Sweden, Britain, Japan and the
US – to create contemporary interpretations of classic Josef Frank designs. They were given access to the archives and free reign to re-imagine them in their own style. Three of the resulting designs have been added to Svenskt Tenn’s product range. One of these, ‘The Story of Flowers’, by Kotone Utsunomiya from Tama Art University in Tokyo, will be used to upholster the iconic Liljevalchs sofa. Inspired by Frank’s ‘Mirakel’ pattern, ‘The Story of Flowers’ draws on his signature style of fantastical floral motifs in brilliant, rich colours. “As I started to examine various plants, it felt like an entire universe unfolding from within each specimen, and when I then saw Josef Frank’s ‘Mirakel’ pattern, I got the impression that he had made precisely the same discovery himself,” Kotone says.
[Classics]
Japanese design student Kotone Utsunomiya created “The story of flowers” in conjunction to Svenskt Tenn’s “Ten Textile Talents” exhibition.
Design student Lisa Englund created the “Chintz” print in conjunction to Svenskt Tenn’s “Ten Textile Talents” exhibition.
Japanese design student Haruka Udo created the “Dear Josef Frank” print in conjunction to the exhibition “Ten Textile Talents”.
Haruka Udo is another Japanese design student whose pattern ‘Dear Josef Frank’ was chosen, along with ‘Chintz’ by Lisa Englund from Konstfack in Stockholm, which was inspired by Frank’s ‘Us Tree’ print and Lisa’s time in India. “Josef Frank’s plants resemble fantasy more than reality and, in ‘Chintz’, images of western specimens that don’t exist in India are often depicted.” Why open up the iconic prints to re-interpretation at
all? “We were curious about how young designers of today are viewing Josef Frank’s work and how contemporary interpretations of his designs would turn out,” says Thommy Bindefeld, Marketing Director at Svenskt Tenn. “From the resulting pattern images, we learn how one of the premier designers of our time continues to inspire new generations.” The new patterns will be available as trays, pillows and piece-goods textiles at the
Svenskt Tenn Strandvägen store in Stockholm, as well as online. Frank’s famous design philosophy was: “There’s nothing wrong with mixing old and new, with combining different furniture styles, colours and patterns. Things that you like will automatically fuse to form a relaxing entity.” He would surely have approved of the students’ mixing of old and new, and also of the continuation and re-interpretation of his rich legacy.
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Swedish Press | July/August 2018 21
Hemma hos
The Winery Hotel is the first of its kind in Sweden
[Design]
By Kristi Robinson
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n unassuming building lot, vacant for 20 years, in Solna on the outskirts of Stockholm provided the perfect location for designer and owner Jan Söder to conceive and construct his dream of Sweden’s first wine hotel. The Winery Hotel opened in early 2016 and has been embraced by local and international wine enthusiasts. Swedish Press had the pleasure of chatting with Jan who shared that, out of all the projects he has worked on, this one just felt truly right.
Front desk at The Winery Hotel with a view into the hotel’s wine factory.
As lead designer at interior design firm Redbarn, and owner of the Nordic Light Hotel as well as the renowned Icebar in Stockholm, Jan was in the unique position to follow his intuition and really see his vision for The Winery Hotel through. From the beginning he had a strong sense that the hotel should function as an urban winery and was able to create an aesthetic in line with that. Motivated by his trips to New York, he found
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The rooftop patio overlooks Brunnsviken and Haga Park. Photo © TWH & Jan Malmström.
inspiration in the brick façades and interiors of the wineries, breweries, and bars, and also in Brooklyn’s 100-year-old factory converted to a boutique hotel, the Whythe Hotel, with its floor-to-ceiling windows. Jan took this industrial aesthetic and fused it with a pure Scandinavian style to create what he calls ‘industrial elegance’. From the moment you walk into the spacious lobby – which also serves as a lounge and wine bar – to the front desk sitting in front of oak barrels visible through a glass wall, it is evident that you are in the heart of a winery. In fact the Winery Hotel is the only hotel in the world with a winery inside the lobby. In the entrance the walls are 8 meters high and meet the exposed ceiling, where beams and pipes are painted a warm dark gray. The floor is made of solid concrete that may crack a little over time, but Jan admits this is what he wants; he feels it all adds to the character of the hotel. The elegant industrial ambiance permeates the hotel through all its 184 rooms. Concrete is visible in the ceiling. Steel, stone, wood, and leather can be found in elements of each room. The robustness of these materials is complemented by the warm grape green colour of the accent wall, a
reflection of the Terreno vineyard in Tuscany that is also owned by The Winery Hotel, and from where the inspiration and knowledge of winemaking derives. The hotel makes 8,000 bottles of “The Winery Red’’ on site each year from Sangiovese with a dash of Cab ernet Sauvignon. They also produce 900 bottles of rosé that Jan says may not last the summer months because of its popularity on the year-round rooftop patio – another design highlight of the hotel with a heated pool, sun loungers, and a panoramic view. If you enjoy wine and are near Stockholm, a visit to The Winery Hotel is a must. http://www.thewineryhotel.se/
The rooms feature a combination of industrial modern and warm & cozy. All Photos © The Winery Hotel (TWH) & Jason Strong, unless otherwise noted.
Hemma hos
A Swedish Winemaker on the World Stage By Göran Amnegård Blaxsta Vineyard is a small, romantic vineyard facing south along the shores of Lake Långhalsen at the heart of the idyllic province of Södermanland. This 7-acre domain is situated among ancient rune stones and Viking graves. The facility offers visitors various activities, including guided tours, wine-tasting, cooking classes, hunting, fishing and golf. The Hotel Kung Blacke has facilities for conferences, weddings and various celebrations. Göran Amnegård, the owner and operator of the vineyard, gives us an insight into his wine-making business in the following.
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attracts over 14,000 wines from more than 50 countries. As a member of the jury at the World Champagne and Sparkling Wine Challenge, I am quite familiar with the competition. Our wine is completely natural, which means that we use no sulphite, bisphenol, myriac acid, gelatine, flavours, colours, etc., and all filtering is also natural. This is the new trend in the wine industry. Note that the Systembolaget has no natural wines available. Also, all our wines are cold fermented, a process that requires 5 – 6 months of fermentation. It matures in steel tanks in 12 – 24 months depending on the vintage and
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s a former Assistant Trade Commissioner to Canada way back in the 1980s, and as a friend of the then Swedish Press Editor-in-Chief Anders Neumuller, I helped him with information, text, suggestions for articles, new Swedish ventures for advertising, etc., over a four – five year period. So I know Swedish Press very well! As of the summer of 2000, we are the first Swedish winery in modern time and the only producer of Vitis Vinifera, the best vines for the Swedish climate. The other growers cultivate a variety called Vitis Labrusca that have a Russian genetic background. We grow Merlot, Chardonnay and Vidal Blanc, the latter being made into ice wine. We are the only producer in Sweden who competes in the Wine World Challenge, and are the first ever Swedish winery to earn gold medals there (gold 2010, 2011 and 2012, silver 2016, and bronze 2007). The Wine World Challenge
à l’Amnegård
Lobster Ravioli
Ingredients: • 1 cup Durum flour • 8 eggs • 1 lobster • 4 tbsp Philadelphia cream cheese • 1 tbsp finely chopped spinach • Pinch of salt • A few drops of lemon juice • ½ cup cream • ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
Göran Amnegård. Photos © Blaxsta vingård.
grape variety. We also make ice wine from rose hips and Åkerö apples, as well as a 100% wild raspberry dessert wine. As for grapes, we grow Merlot (see Merlot Prestige Vintage), Chardonnay (see Chardonnay Barrique Grande) and Vidal (see Vidal Ice Wine Vintage Reserve). Over 80 % of our wine is exported. The most recent shipment was to a wine collector in Toronto. We also sell to the UK, Brazil, Hong Kong, Holland and Germany on a regular basis. We would like to make our wine available to Swedes/Scandinavians in North America. Call me on +46 70 48 34 690, or email me on goran.amnegard@blaxstawine.se.
Preparation: 1) Pasta dough: Mix the flour and four egg yolks and blend to a smooth dough. Cover in plastic wrap and put in fridge for minimum 5 hours. 2) Lobster filling: Blanch the lobster in boiling water for 3 minutes. Take 175-200 gram of the partly raw lobster meat. In a mixer add 1 tbsp of cream cheese, finely chopped spinach, pinch of salt, drops of lemon juice. Mix all into a smooth blend. Put mixture in a piping bag. 3) Parmesan sauce: Mix cream, 3 tbsp cream cheese and grated parmesan. Heat and stir until melted. 4) Assemble. Separate four egg yolks without breaking the yolk. Set aside. With a pasta machine (or rolling pin) make pasta dough into ultra-thin sheet and cut out four circles 10 cm diameter. Make another four circles of 12 cm in diameter. About 1 cm from edge of smaller circles, pipe lobster mix. Put one egg yolk gently in the center. Take larger pasta circle and cover. Use a fork to seal the edge around. Do the remaining three ravioli the same way. 5) Put the ravioli in a large pot with simmering water for between 1 minute 45 seconds and 2 minutes depending on size of egg yolk. Don’t boil the water! 6) Keep sauce warm and put 1 spoon of sauce on the bottom of the plate. Put the ravioli on top and cover with an extra spoon of sauce. Garnish with herb or edible flower. Serves 4 persons.
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Swedish Press Connects
Swedish Council of America
Upcoming events at Scandinavian Museums By Gregg White, Executive Director
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merica’s Swedish community is well-served by its four major and multiple smaller historic and cultural museums. Each presents its unique perspective on the impact Swedes have had on American life. Here are some upcoming events at several Scandinavian museums across America. Each of these exhibits is a 2018 SCA Grant Recipient.
Augustana Teaching Museum of Art, Rock Island, IL November 2018 – February 2019 Världen är liten/The World is Small highlights works in the Augustana Teaching Museum of Art’s collections by Swedish and Swedish-American artists whose practice brought them into conversation with Parisian Modernism. This exhibition is part of a Quad Cities-wide celebration around the exhibition French Moderns: Matisse to Monet at the Figge Art Museum, the premier art exhibition and education facility between Chicago and Des Moines. Dozens of community partners across the area will be engaging in programming related to the exhibition. Nordic Heritage Museum, Seattle, WA
September 2018 – March 2019 The exhibition From the Heart, Made by Hand: Celebrating 80 years of Hemslöjd at the ASHM introduces the rich tradition of hand craft in Sweden to the museum’s visitors through a remarkable gift of textiles from every province of mainland Sweden to the ASHM in 1938.
October 2018 The Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle is pleased to serve as the only west coast venue of the exhibition The Vikings Begin. This travelling exhibition, produced by Uppsala University’s museum, Gustavianum, tells the story of the Vikings of early Sweden. The exhibition will feature original artifacts, reconstructions, and digital material, and will be accompanied by a series of scholarly presentations, lectures, family and children’s programs that will enhance the visitor experience and add context to the latest findings that tell the story of the Viking Age.
American Swedish Institute, Minneapolis, MN
Swedish American Museum, Chicago, IL
July 2018 – October 2018 The exhibition Gudrun Sjödén – A Colorful Universe is an examination of the career and practice of textile designer, entrepreneur and Swedish fashion icon Gudrun Sjödén. Known for her colorful, eco-conscious approach to fashion, Gudrun Sjödén has established a global network of fans loyal to her boldly feminine collections. The exhibition and its associated programming will use Sjödén’s visually bold and bright designs, inspired by Swedish folk motifs, combined with her entrepreneurial vision to create a forum for inspiration, knowledge and positive thinking.
September – November 2018 The Kungsholm Miniature Grand Opera exhibit will showcase the puppets and set that were once a part of the renowned Kungsholm restaurant in Chicago from 1941 to 1971. The exhibit will highlight the history and performances of the Kungsholm puppets—and events will include lectures, tours of the original Kungsholm building which is now Lawry’s, and operatic performances in collaboration with “Opera in Focus,” and traditional Kungsholm-style Smörgåsbord.
American Swedish Historical Museum, Philadelphia, PA
SCA is Swedish America’s community foundation. Our mission is to promote knowledge and appreciation of Swedish heritage and culture in North American life and to strengthen contemporary cultural and educational ties between North America and Sweden. We achieve this by providing grants to organizations, scholarships to youth, recognition to leaders and communications to the community – all focused on furthering our mission. www.swedishcouncil.org
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Swedish Press Connects
Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce
Caroline Borgudd: Making Museum Missions Matter
families who normally do not visit the Natural History Museum, and finally meet with cultural institutions in the D.C. area which manage to attract a local audience. Caroline Borgudd only has good things to say about the aroline Borgudd Smithsonian and the National Museum of Natural History. recently arrived Everyone has been willing to share learnings, thoughts in Washington and experience. Even though everything is scaled by 10 in D.C. for a 6-week comparison to the Swedish Museum of Natural History, a traineeship at the Smithlot of the topics are the same such as the conflict between sonian National Museum being a truly audience driven institution while at the same of Natural History on a J-1 time serving passionate researchers and collectors. Caroline visa sponsored by SACCBorgudd recognizes where to find the answer to this question: USA. During this trainee“By the end of the day our work matters only when it ship, Caroline will look into matters to people, when they see it as relevant.” She the question of how the Smithsonian could increase its hopes to return to Sweden inspired by new ideas for how Sweden welcomes job seekers from abroad, including from the United States. attractiveness by appealing to a local audience. This is a this can be achieved. The Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce, SACC-USA, is looking for concern for the museum. Each year the museum accom“To workingfor in traineeships WashingtonupD.C. at the world’s technology & IT candidates to join Swedishbe companies modates over 7 million visitors with 10% coming from the largest natural history museum is a dream come true,” to 18 months. D.C. area. Caroline Borgudd says. “It is amazing to be in the front Back home in Stockholm,Why Caroline Borgudd is Senior row of the political and cultural scene. It is a great Sweden? • Sweden is a leader in technology, innovation Communications Manager with the Swedish Museum challenge toand takeentrepreneurship on this research question and I am partner are at thevery cutting edge oftotheir of Natural History. She spent• theOur first fifteencompanies years of her honored havefield the possibility to push boundaries • Each position comes with a detailed plan for what you will achieve professionally professional life working in marketing management with for myself and my home town museum.” during your traineeship consumer brands. “My greatest professional passion • Sweden offers great working – andSwedish-American a healthy work/lifeTalent balance Bilateral Mobility Program has always been to understand what makes people tic – conditions • Swedish core values are inclusiveness, equality, and a flat management style what their driving forces are to invest time and money Swedes to the U.S.: As a J-1 visa sponsor designated by • – in combination with a strong work ethic behind a particular brand,” says Caroline. the U.S. Department of State, SACC-USA has helped • Sweden’s doors are open, you may bring your spouse, common-law or registered When joining the Swedish Natural History Museum some 800 Swedish students and professionals come to the partner and children four years ago, Caroline came to realize that a lot of United States to do internships or traineeships. exchanges at the museum take place between research Americans to Sweden: As an international exchange Requirements departments across the world, that outreach • but Bachelor’s degreeand or higher in aorganization technologicalthat fieldfacilitates applications for Swedish work Oraequivalent experience education departments often• lack global perspective to permit for training, SACC-USA assists students of all U.S Icitizen or U.S. permanent resident with passport expand their thinking. “Ever• since, have been intrigued nationalities in the United States find practical training • Knowledge of thecan Swedish language not required to explore how mission-driven organizations opportunities in Sweden. matter more to people,” she says. For more information, please visit www.sacc-usa.org/ www.sacc-usa.org/trainee for more The objective of CarolineVisit Borgudd’s traineeship at trainee or call information Cecilia Kullman +1 202 569 5165. the Smithsonian is to broaden her horizons, gain new perspectives and increase her understanding of how a museum can engage and build relevance for specific communities, making its mission matter. Can a museum be a tourist magnet and at the same time hold a sweet spot for the local audience? Her research project will be a About SACC-USA Network: SACC-USA consists of 20 Regional Aboutthe the SACC-USA Network: three-step process; first interview internal stakeholders at Chambers acrossconsists the U.S. of Our20 mission is to promote trade across and investment SACC-USA Regional Chambers the U.S. the Smithsonian, then do in-depth interviews with local in both directions between Sweden and the U.S. www.sacc-usa.org. For more information on the SACC-USA Trainee Program, please visit: www.sacc-usa.org/trainee or contact Swedish+1 Press Cecilia Kullman, ck@sacc-usa.org, 202| July/August 536 1520 2018 25
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Calling American Tech Talent to Sweden
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Photo: Niclas Vestefjell Ola Ericson, Simon Paulin /imagebank.sweden.se
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Road to 2045
Road to 2045
In the Road to 2045 series, Swedish Press explores climate change issues in Sweden and how the country deals with this major challenge. Swedish Press has entered into a collaboration with Forum for Reforms, Entrepreneurship and Sustainability (Fores) who are experts in this area. In the coming months you will see updates on activities and regulations in Sweden, case studies on interesting companies, and interviews with leading climate profiles.
Robin Hood Enters the Transport Sector By Jakob Lagercrantz
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e see a new development in the transport sector. In California the carbon intensive fuels provide yearly funds for clean vehicle projects, while in France the so called bonus-malus was introduced in 2009, providing a bonus for small vehicles with less emissions. The common denominator is that these
policies do not deplete the government budget, they are a transfer of funds between the high emitters to the low and zero emission vehicles and fuels. It is a beautiful idea. By setting up a system where the problems for society also suggest the solutions, we get a strong and committed movement towards cleaner technologies. A bit like the later stories about Robin Hood: in the 1800’s the legend developed into a “take from the rich and give to the poor”. On July 1, 2018 the Swedish bonus-malus system will be born. It provides for a bonus of 6000 USD for a new zero emission vehicle, with a sliding bonus scale to 1000 USD bonus for CNG cars and cars emitting less than 60 grams CO2 per kilometer. On the other side of the scale, new high emitters will get a hefty increase on the yearly vehicle tax for the first three years. It is calculated that the malus will pay for the bonus. The Swedish bonus-malus has been reviewed in a number of government sponsored reports, and it took almost
ten years to get it in place. But now it is there, as a consequence of the newly adopted Climate law. The reaction in Sweden was initially negative, but the buyer in the street now accepts it as a tool for advancing cleaner technologies. There is increasing support for achieving the Swedish target of 70% CO2 reduction in the transport sector by 2030. The 2030-secretariat has reviewed different European countries’ policies to cleaner vehicles. We found that countries with government policies that adapt to market development rapidly/yearly, and that also have a long term environmental vision, are the winners. Norway sticks out. They have a bonus-malus-like system, with dedicated levels of emission where the gargantuan registration tax increases quickly. On the other hand electric vehicles pay no registration tax. In only eight years the share of fossil fuel cars has decreased from 98% to less than 50%. The average CO2 emissions were less than 80 grams/ km, compared to the EU average of 118 grams CO2/km. In California the policy is named Feebate (Fee and Rebate) and it is being investigated. The carrot and the stick approach has been proven through the years as a good combination to get what you want, whether it is government policy of the donkey owner tempting or urging the donkey to move forward. The right combination is the key, and this requires the policy maker to take an adaptive approach. Fores (which includes the 2030-secretariat) is a Swedish think tank devoted to questions related to climate and environment, migration and integration, entrepreneurship and economic reforms, as well as the digital society.
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Swedish Events around the World
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Art exhibit opening – “Still Life,” a display of provocative paintings by Swedish artist Karin Broos, will open Friday, Jul 6, in Chicago’s Swedish American Museum. The exhibit, which was on view last summer at the American Swedish Institute, is organized jointly with Prins Eugen’s Walemarsudde. The images depict female members of the artist’s family in seemingly mundane situations charged with undertones of thoughtfulness. Broos is inspired both by her home life and the landscape of Värmland, where she has lived since 1975. Educated at the Royal Academy of Art in Holland, Broos runs the Alma Leaves Museum in Värmland with her husband Marc. She is represented by the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, the Ystad Art Museum and others.
Tia Keo – Three Sixty Five – Exhibition by srtist Tia Keo on display at the American Swedish Institute from June 30 through August 5, 2018. Three Sixty Five is an exhibition by artist Tia Keo anchored by daily watercolor/drawing and set free through woven metal sculptures and vessels. It features new explorations over 365 days and illustrates quenching the incessant need to create through committed practice and, most important, how that cultivation allows the artist’s voice to emerge. Keo is a Minneapolis-based designer/ maker who is a 2017 Minnesota State Arts Board grantee. She is significantly influenced by her Finnish heritage, modern design and handcraft. Her laser-cut jewelry sells in museum and design shops across the country and she is actively ex-
Sculpture by Tia Keo
panding her skills to make metal jewelry and create other work. Her architect father also created a lens through which she viewed the world.
Seattle Viking Days at the Nordic Museum –Viking Days is a free outdoor family-friendly festival featuring delicious Swedish pancakes, traditional entertainment, a Viking encampment, kids’ activities, and much more.
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Viking Days. Photo: Nordic Museum
This year, Viking Days weekend has changed to July 14 – 15, in partnership with the Ballard Alliance’s SeafoodFest. You can also participate in the 3rd Annual Run Like A Viking 5K on July 14. Runners are encouraged to don their Norse seafaring attire. Gun time is 9am; runners will be chip-timed. Four-legged friends welcome! Prizes will be awarded on race day. Visit www.nordicmuseum.org/ vikingdays for more information.
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A guide to fun and interesting Swedish events outside Sweden
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CHICAGO Swedish American Museum 5211 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60640 Tel: 773-728 8111 | info@samac.org www.swedishamericanmuseum.org ONGOING: The exhibit, “Dreams of a Swedish Summer,” by master gardener Lamanda Joy, in the Wallenberg Gallery through Jul 29. Jul 4 – Wed: The Museum Building will be closed in observance of Independence Day. Jul 6 – Fri: Opening of the exhibit, “Still Life,” with paintings by Karin Broos. Jul 8, Aug 12 – Sun 1 pm: Scandinavian Jam, an instructional program about traditional roots music led by Mary Allsopp and Paul Tyler; participants are welcome to play their own instruments during the jam session. Jul 21 – Sat 11 am: Guided tour of the permanent exhibit, “A Dream of America,” focusing on immigration to Swedish neighborhoods. Jul 23-27 – Mon-Fri: Session I of the Travel the World Summer Camp will begin at 9 am with exploration of the food, dance, folk arts and cultural identities of a different country each day. Session II will be Aug 13-17. Aug 6 – Mon 3 pm: Moon Monday, a tribute to astronaut Buzz Aldrin, in the third-floor Brunk Children’s Museum. DETROIT Swedish Club of Southeast Michigan 22398 Ruth St, Farmington Hills, MI 48336 Info: 734-459 0596 www.swedishclub.net Jul 8 – Sun 2 to 3:30pm: Pot Luck Aug 12 – Sun 2 to 3:30pm: Pot Luck LOS ANGELES SACC – LA The Lot 1041 N Formosa Ave, Formosa Bldg, Room 215, West Hollywood, CA 90046 Tel: 310-622 3616 | info@sacc-la.org www.sacc-la.org Aug 29 – Wed: SACC-LA and the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce – Back to Business – An evening with excellent opportunities to mingle with old and new colleagues, connect with the network of SACC-LA and BHCC and get back to business. Event at the restaurant STK Los Angeles. 8
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MINNEAPOLIS American Swedish Institute 2600 Park Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55407 Tel: 612-871 4907 | www.asimn.org Ongoing through Jul 15: Exhibition – The Fantastical Worlds of Kim Simonsson. Jul 11 – Wed 1 to 2 pm: Afternoons at ASI: Allsång på Skansen – spend the afternoon with ASI staff to learn some tunes and sing along. Jul 30 through Aug 5: Three Sixty Five is an exhibition by artist Tia Keo anchored by daily watercolor/drawing and set free through woven metal sculptures and vessels. Jul 26 through Oct 28: Gudrun Sjödén – A Colourful Universe – Exhibition to showcase the work of renowned textile designer Gudrun Sjödén and her bold feminine collections that are inspired by nature and Swedish folk motifs. PHILADEPHIA American Swedish Historical Museum 1900 Pattison Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19145 | Tel: 215-389 1776 | info@americanswedish.org | www.americanswedish.org Aug 3 – Fri 6:30 to 8 pm: Summer Concert: The Oskar Stenmark Trio – a free summer evening concert on the Terrace of ASHM. Ongoing through Aug 26 – Sami – Walking with Reindeer – Erika Larsen introduces the day-to-day lives of modern Sami families through her acclaimed photography. Aug 17 – Fri 6:30 to 9:30 pm: Crayfish Party – Enjoy a buffet of crayfish and Swedish meatballs, along with crisp bread, cheese, potatoes, cheese pie, and glass of akvavit all outside under our beautiful lighted and decorated tent. Aug 31 – Fri 6:30 to 8 pm: Summer Concert: Norwegian musician Ann-Marita Garsed PORTLAND New Sweden Cultural Heritage Society PO Box 80141 Portland, OR 97280 www.newsweden.org Aug 4 – Sat: Kraftskiva Party at Fogelbo, 9720 SW Oleson Road, Portand,. Aug 11 – Sat: The viking Ship Float – Astoria Regatta with the Viking ship float. Aug 20-25 – Swedish Language and Cuture Camp. 18
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SEATTLE Swedish Cultural Center 1920 Dexter Ave. N. Seattle, WA 98109 Tel: 206-283 1090 | www.swedishclubnw.org info@swedishculturalcenter.org Jul 4 – Wed 7pm: Fourth of July Party at the Club. The best spot in Seattle for watching fireworks. Barbecue dinner by Smokin’ Pete’s BBQ in Ballard. Folk dancing! Kids’ program & film. Dinner & inside seats to watch the fireworks: Dinner at 7:30. RSVP: 206-283 1090. Nordic Museum 2655 NW Market Street, Seattle, WA 98107 Tel: 206-789 5707 | nordic@nordicmuseum.org www.nordicmuseum.org Jul 14-15 – Sat to Sun: Viking Days – a free outdoor family-friendly festival featuring delicious Swedish pancakes, traditional entertainment, a Viking encampment, kids’ activities, and much more. VANCOUVER Scandinavian Community Centre 6540 Thomas Street, Burnaby, BC V5B 4P9 Tel: 604-294 2777 | info@scandinaviancentre.org | www.swedishculturalsociety.ca Jul 1 – 10 am to 4 pm: Canada Day Drumming! This is an event that started in 2017 at the 150th anniversary as a way to celebrate Canada’s birthday, multiculturalism, and diversity. This year they will attempt to reach the Guinness Book of World Records for “Most Nationalities in a Drum Circle”. Vancouver celebration takes place at Creekside Park. Info at www.canadadaydrumming.com Jul 21 – Sat 8 am: Hike to Elfin Lakes led by Marja R. This a challenging hike in Squamish, leading up to Elfin Lakes. There is an opportunity to swim in the lakes at the top. Elevation Gain: 600 m. Highest Point: 1,590 m, Distance: 22 km. RSVP scansports@gmail.com WINNIPEG Swedish Cultural Assn of Manitoba 764 Erin Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3G 2W4 | Tel: 204-774 8047 | Reservations at: svenskclub17@gmail.com Aug 12-18 – Folklorama – Scandinavian Pavillion: “Nordic Explorers”. 28
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Swedish Press Classified Alberta Organizations Svenska Skolan i Calgary bedriver undervisning för barn 3-15 år gamla på lördagar kl 9:30-12. Alla barn är välkomna. Undervisningen sker på svenska. Kontakta Svenska Skolan genom Scandinavian center 403-284-2610 eller skicka epost till contact@swedishschool.com. Läs mer om vår skola på www.swedishschool.com BC Organizations Scandinavian Business Club Monthly meetings feature business speakers. Guests and new members welcome. Call SBC: 604-484-8238. Visit us at www.sbc-bc.ca Scandinavian Community Centre Beautiful setting for weddings, parties, birthdays, meetings and seminars. 6540 Thomas Street, Burnaby, BC info@scandinaviancentre.org 604-294-2777 www.scandinaviancentre.org Svenska Kulturföreningen Ordförande Ellen Petersson 604-970-8708. Kassör är Linda
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Swedish Club 1920 Dexter Ave. N, Seattle, WA 98109; Tel: 206-283-1090. Open Wednesday evenings for supper and games, Friday for lunch and dinner. Pancake breakfasts on first Sundays of the month. Rental venue for meeting, parties, etc. www.swedishclubnw.org Classified Advertising Sales Reps wanted Swedish Press is looking for full or part-time advertising sales representatives. E-mail info@ swedishpress.com for more information.
Swedish Club of Victoria Dinners, Events and Meetings, for information contact Annabelle Beresford @ 250-656-9586 or Swedish Club of Victoria Facebook. Washington Organizations Nordic Museum has moved to a beautiful, brand-new building! In Seattle, 2655 N.W. Market St., Ballard; 206-789-5707.
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Sista ordet
“Hot Line” to Hockey = Mozart to Music What About Those Jets, Eh? By Laurel Anderson-McCallum
On December 27, 1971, Winnipeg was granted one of the founding franchises in the World Hockey Association (WHA). By 1979, the vast majority of the WHA’s teams had folded, but the Jets were still going strong and they were absorbed into the NHL along with the Quebec Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers and Hartford Whalers as part of the WHA–NHL merger. The original Winnipeg Jets played their last game on April 28, 1996. Fifteen members of the 1977-78 Winnipeg Jets, including the famed Hot Line of Bobby Hull, Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg, gathered in town last weekend to celebrate 40 years since winning the team's second AVCO Cup and their ground-breaking victory over the Soviet national team. Geoff Kirbyson, journalist and author
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e dropped into Joe Daley’s sports shop for souvenirs for our kids. Such an affable gentleman, surprising us with program booklets from the 1977 Avco Cup win (Jets – 3 time winners). Daley had been the winning goalie, I read, when Winnipeg was still in the WHA. Wow, I had a lot to learn. The “Hot Line” – Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson, with their unbelievable abilities, were to hockey what Mozart was to music. I was gobsmacked. The banquet became a luncheon because the Jets had won against Nashville; they would play that evening against Las Vegas. There was Gunvor Larsson laughing with Willy Lindstrom, remembering meals she had cooked for him 40 years previously. Over the dinner, Sonja,
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Swedish Press | July/August 2018 30
President of the The Swedish Cultural Association of Manitoba, shared that Gunvor had taught Swedish to Gerry Wilson, before he’d travelled overseas as the Jets’ medical man. In Stockholm, Wilson began research on the physiology of a hockey player, conducting muscle biopsies and oxygen tests during training. Those amazing Swedish players gave him what he wanted… Anders Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson, then Lars-Erik Sjoberg (Shoe), and Curt Larsson, who eventually joined Bobby Hull (the best left winger in the world) in Winnipeg with the WHA. The players made a lasting impression on Hull. Hedberg recalled: “We had real talent – skill, speed, top notch goal tending and genuine toughness. We became a real team with different nationalities and backgrounds. It worked. We were unique… we switched positions always and kept puck possession.” Afternoon events swirled onward for 250 sparkly-eyed guests. Finally it was my turn.
“Where did the miracle come from, Mr.Hull… your great speed and power?” No hesitation… “My father, my dad!” He signed everyone’s treasures, well after the banquet was over. He has always done this and gives back continually to his Children’s Foundation. Q and A: “In the locker room, whose voice did you listen to when you needed guidance?” Hedberg delivered the answer… “Bobby’s – but then, to our captain Shoe, also!” Hedberg and Nilsson were weaving quickly through the crowd for pictures; It felt like I was chasing them down the ice… My nephew’s question: “How did you find playing the Russians during the Cold War?”(Jets victory 1978.) Nilsson shrugged. “We played… it was nothing to us.” This from the player who continually took hits from the opposition in order to free up his wingers. He played every game with a black eye. And Anders Hedberg: 50 goals in 50 games, 4 Halls of Fame, repeatedly an All Star… Now? Consistency, positiveness, thoughtfulness, energy and joy. All the players sped to the Jets game that night. We won again! I was so in awe I couldn’t sleep. Neither could Gunvor.
Willy Lindstrom, Gunvor Larsson, Sonja Lundstrom and Ted sharper.
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