Nordic Reach

News

What Women Want

This issue features a fresh interview with one of Scandinavia's best-known entrepreneurs -- A proud Swede -- Ingvar Kamprad from Elmtaryd in Agunnaryd. This is not an entirely impartial or unbiased article of the IKEA founder. How could it be? During my years as a writer/publisher, I have repeatedly run into this year's recipient of SACC New York's Lucia Trade Award. He is a person I greatly admire.

Tidbits

[Thomas Di Leva], who comes from Gävle, north of Stockholm, recently released his first new album in four years. The album, "Tiden Faller" (Time Passes, released by Bonnier Amigo), has been a major success and was received positively by music critics. The new album features the single "Vad är friheten?" which has been compared to Di Leva's mega-hit of 1987, "Vem ska jag tro på?" (Who should I believe in?). Inspired by the pristine coves and shores of Lake Sebago, the largest lake in southern ...

Creator of Vietnam Memorial Draws a Line at Wanas; From Washington, D.C. To Knislinge, Sweden

[Maya Ying Lin] first visited Wanås in May 2003 and selected the twenty-three-acre cow pasture known as "Storåker" for her artwork. "Immediately after inspecting the field, she talked about her associations and thoughts concerning placing the work in this pasture. The next day, I found Maya Lin sitting and working with the gravel in the yard in front of the castle. With her hands she was forming a scribbled line into the gravel. She went back and forth between changing the line and returning ...

Shelter From the Storm: A Different Kind of Design Hotel

Instead of working with acrylics or clay and selling their works in galleries or museums for large sums of money, artists Kenneth Balfelt, 37, and Thomas Poulsen, 32, work with people and places and relationships. They deal with "social aesthetics," making connections between people at different levels in society, and redefining public space. This is a grey zone somewhere between art, sociology, architecture and design. While the theoretical basis for their project called "Radical Horizontali...

Various Shades of Black: Camilla Staerk

When we caught up with Camilla at her strawberry and champagne press reception at the CpH Vision fashion show in Øksnehallen this fall, she was dressed in a black frock, with a thin black ribbon around her forehead. This wasn't much of a surprise; Camilla has worn only black clothing since she was 15 or 16 years old. In fact, she looks like she could be a model for a Norwegian cartoon series called Nemi starring a feisty punk princess, which is popular in Scandinavia. But why only black?

Where Would You Like to Have Your Sauna?

The sauna building is made of timber and can be clad in most materials on the outside and can be manufactured in 3 different sizes: small, medium and large (for five to fifteen persons). There is room for changing, washing, and, of course, the sauna. The generous space of the sauna allows an airy and oxygen-rich sauna bath, while the small window lets in atmospheric daylight.

The New Nordic Man...He Cooks, He Cleans, He Plays Soccer Too

There is probably a kernel of truth in the old feminist cliché of the 1970s about equality for women implying liberation for men. "Gigantic changes taken place in this area in recent decades," says ethnologist Åke Daun. "My own father never gave a thought about house cleaning, doing the laundry or cooking food." The well-respected academic, now 68 years old and retired from the University of Stockholm, cooks most of the food in his own house on weekdays, since his wife works during the days. ...

Portrait of a Legend: Ikea's Ingvar Kamprad

Nobody knows for sure whether entrepreneurs are made or born, but they all seem to share certain character traits, personality quirks and behavioral patterns. They are driven. They work towards the kind of long-term goals that you and I get a mere glimmer of at best. The time of day and day of the week don't matter, and work and leisure time are usually one and the same. They're often great motivators, albeit with a sting, and they always take total responsibility for their own motivation. It...

Sing...Sing a Song!

The concert truly touched us with pieces such as "Tonerna," sung by the mixed chorus; "Land Du Välsignade" and "Gonna Build a Mountain," sung by the men; and "It's a Wonderful World and Cat Stevens's "Morning has Broken," sung by the ladies.

Walk, Don't Run

"We were thinking about going to Melbourne to compete there," said Johan Turesson, organizer of the Stockholm Waiter's Race, but it was a bit too far, so we went with New York. "I haven't been to New York in over thirty years," said Operakällaren's Mikael Hilarius, who won the Stockholm race two years ago and who, at 59, was the oldest runner. "But they still make their `Manhattans' the same way at Waldorf-Astoria!" "This is my first time in New York," said a happy [Michael Padin] after the w...

Nordic Rowing Goes Hollywood

"When I had been in Norway for five weeks, the stars [Kirk Douglas], [Tony Curtis], and [Janet Leigh], arrived to the film set," Tore Persson recalls. "Both Curtis and Douglas were in a good physical trim, and they would do a lot of different stunts, such as jumping over some of the horses that were used in the film." Persson goes on to say, "we who rowed had very little to do with the stars. When they arrived, they walked around looking at the properties and the Viking ships." He continues, ...

Big Is Beautiful

It all started in 1994 with a fish dish which was seen by someone from a chain of Swedish coffee shops, who asked if she did mugs too. Her first attempt was a bit clumsy, she admits, but she liked it that way. "It's more cozy to hold a big cup of coffee," she says. "I tried to make things smaller, but I couldn't as I am not so good with the potter's wheel. But I think this has been part of my success." Soon Sweden's most fashionable stores were clamoring for her robust cups, plates, bowls and...

Danes Invade Moma

The partnership between MoMA and the Danish Design Project began in 2002 with an offer to sponsor furniture and accessories in all the public areas of the museum. The Royal Danish Consulate General in New York got a favorable response, and set about approaching Danish manufacturers. Now twenty-four companies are taking part in the project and will supply their products to the museum at a discount. Eleven 40-foot-long containers loaded with the best in Scandinavian furnishings are now en route...

Iceland in Copenhagen: Laundromat Cafe

The menu is Danish and Icelandic, with some American accents, such as pecan pie. There's much more than food, though. Bookshelves below the cafÉ's bar are filled with 4,000 paperbacks, all arranged by color, giving patrons something to occupy their minds while waiting for the spin cycle to end. "We have state-of-the-art Electrolux washing machines. We want people to be really, really clean," says Brynjolfur Gardarsson, one of the four Icelanders.

Screening the North: Cool Films Coming Down the Track

Eighteen-year-old Dick is an outsider in the poor mining town of Esterslope. One day he comes across a gun. The alluring power of the weapon overcomes the pacifist teen, who names the revolver [WENDY]. Dick soon gathers the town's misfits into an armed gang, The Dandies. They carry personally named weapons, which instills the defiant youngsters with a sense of unity and identity. The main Dandy rule is to never pull a gun. But soon a brother in arms is forced to challenge the number one rule....

Illuminating: Brian Kirk

We sip coffee in Kafé Plantagen in Copenhagen, which is decorated with several of [Brian Kirk]'s best-selling Capice II lamps made of translucent oyster shell from the Philippines. The elegant lamps cast a warm light, creating a tropical ambience. Hanging over the café's counter are several of Kirk's circular, modernistic acrylic creations, called Prana lamps.

Made in Scandinavia

For the past twenty years, Tata (Consolata Blanco) has been designing and creating one-of-a-kind beautifully crafted and hand-stitched women's and men's shoes. The price tag for a pair of original Tatas is enough to send some potential customers into cardiac arrest: about 10,000 Danish kronor, or 1,600 US dollars. She only makes ten to fifteen pairs of shoes each year. "Yes, when some people hear the price they almost faint," says Tata with a laugh. "These are not for everybody, but only for ...

Home Is Where the Art Is

Intimate. In every aspect, from the location to the relations, curator Linda Rydberg's non-profit art gallery is intimate. The gallery, Livingroom D lyx, is situated in the living room of Rydberg's tiny one-bedroom apartment, located in downtown Malmö, in southern Sweden. Twice a month, some forty to fifty art lovers cram into Linda's home to mingle and check out the latest avante garde installation. Despite its minuscule size, only about ten square meters, the Malmö gallery is truly internat...

Scholarship Winner Announced and Sweden's Trump Recognized

Female Economist of the year and also BBB aim to accelerate the careers of young women in Sweden by giving them access to the experience and guidance of Friends," says creator and the main force behind the award [Barbro Ehnbom] as we catch up with her in Stockholm. "So naturally we want to honor a specific Friend who was extra helpful and supportive during the previous year.

Music Defies Borders at Baltic Sea Fest

Is the great Russian composer Shostakovich the sole property of Russia? Is it possible for Swedes or Americans to fully appreciate the subtle beauty of Finland's Sibelius? Classical music is, of course, a universal language accessible to everyone. This was eloquently demonstrated at the second annual Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm this fall, as Finnish-born Esa-Pekka Salonen garnered four curtain calls for his interpretation of "Firebird" by Stravinsky. Thereafter, Russian conductor Valery ...

Ikea Conquers Connecticut...Minnesota...Arizona

IKEA's new store in Minnesota -- the state with the highest percentage and also the greatest number of those identifying themselves as Swedish in the 2000 census -- will be an asset, according to Store Manager Max Hedberg. "People here can probably easier relate to some of the Swedishness that we provide in the furniture, the products, the styles, and the way we do our business," he said. Location? The 336,000 square feet of inspiration is located at 8000 IKEA Way, across from the Mall of Ame...

Back to the Future: The Hedman Story

The Hedmans were city folks from Nacka, a southern suburb of Stockholm, where Gerd worked as a physical therapist in the giant Nacka Hospital and [Anders Hedman] was an independent building contractor and constructor of kakelugnar -- traditional tile stoves. In 1994, Gerd felt it would be interesting to gain some professional experience abroad and took a position in Carbondale, in southern Illinois. Following a couple of visits, Anders sold his business and moved over to join her.

A Swede Life

[Lars Bolander] was born in Sweden, studied at the Stockholm School of Art and later continued his education under Carl Malmsten, the ingenious furniture designer. Bolander lived in London for 17 years, worked for Gaby Schreiber on a variety of projects including the QE2, and designed properties exclusively for the German jet-setter Günter Sachs for many years. "This store looks very much like Lars's own home," [Daniel Moore] said. "it's a bit more cosmopolitan than the other stores. The one ...

Larsson's Royal Temptations

"My father was a certified Master Pastry Chef and Baker," [Morgan Larsson] explains. "He owned a classic 1902 pastry shop in Sölvesborg in southern Sweden, and from him I learned everything, starting when I was sixteen." Morgan ran his own shops in two other small towns in southern Sweden, Kristianstad and Hässleholm, but wanderlust soon brought him to the United States, where, after a short stint in Los Angeles, he eventually settled in Manhattan.