CULTURE AND THE ARTS

ON THIS PAGE

  MUSEUMS & GALLERIES
  LIBRARIES
  BALLET, OPERA, DRAMA AND CLASSICAL MUSIC
  NOBEL PRIZE
  SAMI CULTURE
  VIKINGS

          MUSEUMS & GALLERIES

If anybody knows of a particularly good one in their area, I can add it to this section.

General link There are literally thousands of museums of all sizes and catering to all tastes. This gives a link to many of the main museums around Sweden. It also has links to regional resources that have information on museums not found on the main list. There are also castles and manors listed.

Art galleries and information on art in Sweden can be found at Sunet. (E) And not all of the art is confined to Stockholm or Göteborg. The egalitarian Swedes share it around the country. I went to visit Norrköping Konstmuseet one rainy day. We didn’t expect much from a regional gallery, but I was stunned by the sheer quality of the works on display. So I came away very much chastened. The National Portrait Gallery (with over 4,000 portraits) is located in Gripsholms Slott in the beautiful town of Mariefred (E) (S)– another great day-trip!

Nordiska akvarellmuseet The Nordic Watercolour Museum deserves a special mention. This gallery is in a spectacular location overlooking the sea at Skärhamn on the west coast island of Tjörn. While the town itself is well worth a visit, this gallery, devoted entirely to watercolours is amazing. It also hosts major international events. I saw a Salvador Dali exhibition there. Brilliant! (E) (S)

My Stockholm “Top List” There are over 100 museums in Stockholm alone, so there is a huge choice. A complete list is available at ParentNet. I've just included a few of my favourites.

Vasamuseet is by far the most spectacular museum in Stockholm. It houses the Vasa warship, which was meant to be the pride of the Swedish Navy, but sank on it’s maiden voyage in Stockholm harbour on 10^th August 1628. The ship was salvaged in the 1960’s and painstakingly restored and it is truly suberb! However dubious and “unwarship-like” its history, the sheer size of it makes the Vasa something worth seeing.

Skansen is the world’s first open air museum. It is often referred to as “Sweden-in-a-nutshell”. Skansen shows the Sweden of older times, also urban scenes, craftsmen at work and an animal park with Nordic flora and fauna. But it is far more than that. Many festivals throughout the year are celebrated at Skansen and there is always something going on.

Kungliga Slottet The Royal Palace is actually four museums in one. There is the beautiful palace itself, plus a treasury museum (featuring the magnificent crown jewels), the Royal Armoury, Gustav III’s Museum of Antiquities and the Tre Kronor Museum.

Nationalmuseum The National Museum of Fine Arts is Sweden’s largest art museum. It has a fine collection of 17^th and 18^th century Swedish paintings, 18^th century French and 17^th century Dutch art. There is also a really nice cafe there (not overpriced!) and many exhibitions.

Moderna Museet Stockholm’s Museum of Modern Art Their stunning building on Skeppsholmen is closed because of mildew problems until January 2004, so temporarily they have relocated to nearby Klarabergsviadukten 61. The superb collection of international and Swedish modern art, is in storage or being shown in other galleries while repairs are being carried out, but there are exhibitions and there is a wonderful bookshop well worth a browse, the MM Mat cafe (with the very popular “Chocolate Corner”) and workshops. But wait for the re-opening to see it in its full glory.

Nordiska Museet or National Museum for Cultural History is a huge building housing many different artefacts illustrating everyday Swedish life and customs. From the outside it resembles an extravagant Renaissance castle and inside it contains four levels and over 1,500,000 priceless exhibits. Of particular note is the magnificent Strindberg collection.

 

Etnografiska Museet National Museum of Ethnography has really imaginative displays from all over the world. It is also reflects the multicultural influences on Sweden due to recent large scale immigration. It’s a great experience and the restaurant Babajan has food from many countries and is delicious and very reasonably priced.

Millesgården on the island of Lidingö. Sweden’s best known sculptor, Carl Milles (1875 – 1955) lived here and has created a sculpture garden by the sea. Millesgården, includes studios with some original works as well as replicas. It has a magnificent terraced garden (a work of art in itself) and a beautiful view over the water.

          LIBRARIES

The Royal Library Kungliga Biblioteket is Sweden’s National Library and derives its origin from the private book collections of the Swedish kings but today it collects, describes and preserves all Swedish printed materials and makes its collections available to the public. It also collects publications with Swedish associations published in other countries.

Stockholm Public Library Stadsbiblioteket is housed in a magnificent building on Sveavägen. It is a busy library and loans out over a million books a year. There is also a large collection of English fiction and some non-fiction. Also there are several English  newspapers and magazines. (S) (E)

Göteborg Public Library Stadsbiblioteket Göteborg (S)

Helsingborg Public Library Stadsbiblioteket Helsingborg (S)

Malmö Public Library Stadsbiblioteket Malmö (S)

Other towns in Sweden Libraries are generally run by the local Kommuner. Check with your kommun.

          SPECIALISED LIBRARIES

Stockholm University Library Stockholms universitetsbiblioteket (S)

Engineering E-Library of Sweden E.E.L.S. is a searchable library of Internet resources in the applied sciences, especially energy technology, light and optical technology, computer science and engineering, and polar research. (S) (E)

The Music Library of Sweden Statens musikbibliotek is both a research library and a general music library, with a circulating collection of printed music books and periodicals.(E) (S)

Catalogue of Swedish Libraries It includes the Libris Database with more than four million titles representing the holdings of about 200 Swedish libraries, mainly research libraries. (E) (S)

          BALLET, OPERA, DRAMA AND CLASSICAL MUSIC

With the long, dark winters of northern Europe, it is hardly surprising that the Swedes need plenty of diversions, and you do not have to walk far from anywhere to find some form of entertainment. When the rain and the snows begin to assail the country, all of the theatres, cinemas, museums enjoy their peak season. The cinemas are listed in the page on entertainment. Here I’ll list a main link to Kulturrådet and some information on ballet, opera, theatres, classical music.

Kulturrådet The home page of the Swedish National Council for Cultural Affairs. Information about Theatre, Dance, Music, Art, Museums, Literature) (S)

          BALLET

The Royal Swedish Ballet This company performs classical ballet of the highest standard. They are based in Stockholm at Kungliga Operan where they perform to packed houses. There is a ballet school and the touring arm of the company is called Stockholm 59* North (S) (E)

Cullberg Ballet This company named after the legendary choreographer Birgit Cullberg is a highly innovative modern and classical troupe. They tour Sweden and around the world. (S) (E)

Modern Dance Venues in Stockholm Visiting established dance companies from all over the world can be seen at Dansens Hus (S) (E) and Moderna Dansteatern (S)

          OPERA

Royal Opera Traditional productions in their original language are staged mainly at Kungliga Operan in Stockholm. (S) (E)

Göteborg Operan This cultural house features operas, musicals and ballet productions. (S) (E)

Drottningholms Slottsteater In the beautiful grounds of Drottningholm Palace on the island of Ekerö. Most of the operas performed here are from the 18^th century, with Mozart being particularly popular. The season is from May to August and cruise/opera packages are available. (S) (E)

Malmö Opera och Musikteater This theatre in southern Sweden specialises in contemporary musical drama. There is also a fine childrens’ musical theatre (S) (E)

Folkoperan in Stockholm is another genre of classical opera. It performs the classics in Swedish and without the elaborate scenery. (S)

Dallhala in Rättvik Dalhalla is a magnificent amphitheatre created from an old quarry site in Rättvik. Every year it hosts an array of performances ranging from opera and classical events to ballet, choir concerts, folk music, jazz and "son et lumiére" on the rockfaces. (S) (E)

Norrlandsoperan This theatre in Umeå hosts opera and symphony concerts (S) (E)

Vadstena A Summer Opera Festival is held in Vadstena every year. It showcases young professional singers and musicians (S) (E)

Ulriksdals Slottsteatern or Confidencen is Sweden’s oldest Rococo theatre. From June to September there are weekly opera and ballet performances. (S)

 

          DRAMA AND MUSICALS

There is a flourishing theatre life in Sweden, but performances are usually in Swedish. There are 3 main theatre types: state-subsidised theatres, privately operated theatres, independent theatre companies. There is a good links page in SUNET for drama all over the country.

Ice Theatre Check out this in the Ice Hotel home page. A replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre is to be created out of ice in the Arctic climate of northern Sweden. They plan to perform Shakespeare in the Sami language with translations into various languages. Well, it’s different.... (E)

Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern often simply known as Dramaten is Sweden’s national theatre and has five stages. International and Swedish classics are performed here as well as modern productions. The legendary Ingmar Bergman was director here 1963-66 and appears as guest director sometimes. (E)

 

The Stockholm Players This company is an amateur theatre company based in Stockholm - the oldest English speaking theatre company in Sweden. (E) (S)

New Reality Theatre is an excellent opportunity for established professionals or students to practice their craft, and to contribute their skills and efforts to the beginnings of an exciting new English-language entertainment company in Stockholm.

Södra Teatern in Stockholm presents mostly modern productions (S)

Stockholms Stadsteater This theatre is based in Kulturhuset and has a wide variety of productions A summer speciality is the popular series of Parkteatern productions in several of the city’s parks with drama, dance and children’s theatre. (S)

Teater Galeasen is Stockholm’s avant-garde stage for new Swedish and foreign drama (S)

China-Teatern performs many “light” plays, highly popular musicals and children’s favourites (S)

Marionetteatern has puppet shows for both children and adults. There is also a puppet museum on the same site (S)

Pantomimteatern is a theatre company which performs both in the capital, and tours rural areas too. (S)

Other musical venues Oscars-Teatern, (S) Göta Lejon (S) and Cirkus (S) (E).

Big musicals and extravaganzas These tend to be performed at Globen in Stockholm(S) (E)

          CLASSICAL MUSIC

Booking Tickets Tickets for theatres and concert halls can be booked through BiljettDirekt, via home pages on the net, directly from the box office or by phone.

Music Festivals This will link you to all of the music festivals happening in Sweden. It covers a huge number and type of musical events (S) (E) Sunet also has a useful list (S) (E)

Symphony and Chamber Orchestras Dala-Sinfoniettan, Gävle Symfoni, Göteborgs Symfoniker, Helsingborg Symfoni, Malmö Symfoni, Musica Vitae, Norrköpings Symfoni, Royal Philharmonic, Sundsvalls Konsertförening, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Sveriges Radio Symfoni are among the better known orchestras in Sweden

Berwaldhallen concert house in Stockholm is dedicated to the Swedish composer Franz Berwald (1796-1868) and is home to the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. It is also the home base for The Swedish Radio Chorus, which is regarded as one of the world’s great “a cappella” ensembles.

Konserthuset This Stockholm venue is home of the Kungliga Filharmonikerna, an internationally acclaimed 100 piece orchestra whose season tuns from August to May. There are series of chamber music, jazz, family concerts and in November there is a composition festival. (S) (E)

Nybrokajen 11 in Stockholm is the venue for concerts almost every day by such groups as Blåsarsymfoniker. These are concerts in classical music, jazz, chotal and folk music.

Music at the Palace is an annual summer series at the Royal Palace with two concerts every week, usually classical music but sometimes other styles.

Slottsgala på Kungliga Ulriksdal is a concert series held in Hagaparken during the summer in a beautiful park with a waterside setting. It features classical music, jazz and favourites from musicals performed by internationally acclaimed artists.

Göteborgs Gosskör The Gothenburg Cathedral Boys Choir is a highly acclaimed choir thet tours extensively overseas. I've even seen them in Australia. (E) (S)

Orphei Drängar , known internationally as OD is a modern male-voice choir, based in Uppsala (E) (S)

 

          NOBEL PRIZE

It is said that having invented dynamite, gelignite and nitro-glycerine and other substances enough to blow the earth out of the solar system, Alfred Nobel, in a fit of guilty conscience used his profits to set up the Nobel Foundation. Whatever the motive, come December 10^th Swedes enjoy the pomp and splendour of “Nobeldagen”

Nobel Foundation. At this site, there is information about winners of the Nobel prizes in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace. (S) (E)

S.I’s Fact Sheet The Fact sheet from Swedish Institute about the history of the prize. (E)

Literature Prize Here is the home page of the Swedish Academy about the literature prize (S) (E)

“The Alternative Nobel Prize” The Right Livelihood Award home page.(E)

 

          SAMI PEOPLE AND THEIR CULTURE

The Sami have hunted the wild reindeer (the only domesticated animal that can survive on the Arctic’s sparse vegetation) since before the sixteenth century. Of the 8,000 Sami in Sweden, about a quarter still make their living from reindeer.

Samenet is the virtual Sápmi, a joint Nordic meeting place run by the Sami and founded on fundamental Sámi values. (S) (E)

 

Saemieh This is not an official site, but has a good introduction and many links to Sami information (S) (E)

Arctic Circle This website deals with Sami in northern Europé. Many links and information in English .

Samifolket Has Sami links on the internet. Interesting newsletter about current issues. (S) (E)

Gaaltije has facts about the southern most Sami tribes. (E)

Parliament Sametinget The Sami parliament page - to increasing the cause of self-determination.(S) (E)

 

          VIKINGS

Mention Scandinavia to Australians and most people think of the Vikings who swooped into the world arena around AD 800 in a fierce rush of longboats against unguarded shores, killing and plundering as they went. But is that the real story? Check out these great explorers and you may be surprised....

Viking Database A database with information on all important Norse and Viking Age sites, events, projects, museums, reconstructions etc. The database also contains general Viking information. (E)

Viking Times The Viking Times Magazine from Östhammar, contains historical facts about the viking age, description of viking artifacts and archaeological studies (S) (E)

Birka Tells the story of this town in Sweden founded in the 8th century on the island of Björkö in Mälaren.