Lectures & Literary Programs
For reservations, call 212.847.9740 or email event_reservation@amscan.org.
Luminous Modernism-related Lectures
Regional Modernism: New Art in Scandinavia, 1880-1912
A Symposium on Early Modern Nordic Art
Saturday, February 11, 2012
9:30 am – 6 pm (Registration opens @ 9 am); 2 sessions: 9:30 am – 1:30 pm & 2:30 pm – 6 pm
Early registration by January 15, 2012: $35 ($20 ASF Members & Students with a valid ID)
$40 ($20/session); $24 ($12/session) ASF Members & Students with a valid ID
The American-Scandinavian Foundation’s third and final centennial exhibition, Luminous Modernism: Scandinavian Art Comes to America, 1912 will culminate in a major, all-day symposium in February 2012. The program, Regional Modernism: New Art in Scandinavia, 1880-1912, will offer audiences an in-depth look at the art, history, and cultural relations of the Scandinavian countries during the dynamic decades of the early 20th century.
The symposium is composed of two featured keynote addresses, a series of short individual presentations by experts from each participating country, and two panel conversations, followed by a light reception. Presenters will explore the ways in which the distinct, regional modernism of the Nordic countries communicated with the rest of continental Europe at the turn-of-the-century and how it came to influence North America’s own modern artists following their exposure to the 1912 Exhibition of Scandinavian Art. The engaging program will present expert insight on the careers of well-known early modern masters including Anders Zorn, Edvard Munch, and Vilhelm Hammershøi, as well as advanced research on the ways in which Scandinavian modernism relates to the work of North American artists such as Marsden Hartley, Canada’s Group of Seven, and the notorious Stieglitz Circle. It will also engage related topics including the history of taste in the United States, women artists in Scandinavia, changes in ethnic identity, and questions on the origins of modernism.
The impressive roster of participating speakers includes independent scholars, museum directors, curators, art history professors, and private collectors from Scandinavia, Canada, and the United States, including many lenders to the exhibition.
For further information on the symposium schedule, participants, and talks please click here.
See also Luminous Modernism: Scandinavian Art Comes to America, 1912 in EXHIBITION section.
This symposium has been made possible by a grant from the Nordic Culture Fund.
Upcoming Lecture & Literary Events
The Glitter Scene
Monika Fagerholm in Conversation with Michael A. Orthofer
Tuesday, February 7, 6:30 pm
Free
Teenage Johanna lives with her aunt Solveig in a small house bordering the forest on the outskirts of a remote coastal town in Finland. She leads a lonely existence that is punctuated by visits to her privileged classmate, Ulla Bäckström, who lives in the nearby luxury gated community. It isn’t until Ulla tells her the local lore about the American girl and the tragedy that took place more than thirty years before that Johanna begins to question how her parents fit into the story. She sets out to unravel her family history, the identity of her mother, and the dark secrets long buried with her father. In the process of opening closed doors, others in the community reflect back on the town’s history, on their youth, and on the dreams that play in their minds. Soon a new story emerges, that stirs up Johanna’s greatest fears, but ultimately leads to the answers she is searching for. The Glitter Scene is a riveting mystery that explores the roles of truth and myth, reality and fiction, and the repercussions of family secrets.
About the author:
Monika Fagerholm’s much-praised first novel, Wonderful Women by the Sea became one of the most widely translated Scandinavian literary novels in the mid-nineties and was nominated for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. In 1998 it was followed by the cult novel Diva, which won the Swedish Literature Society Award. Her third novel, The American Girl, became a number-one best seller and won the premier literary award in Sweden, the August Prize, as well as the Aniara Prize and the Gothenburg Post Award.
About the moderator:
Michael A. Orthofer (b. 1964, Austria) is the founder, managing editor, and principal reviewer of complete review, a literary website founded in March 1999. His work has been praised by David Orr of the New York Times Book Review and by Time magazine. Orthofer has a particular interest in work in translation.
Northern Influences: Americans Look at Great Nordic Writers
Selma Lagerlöf’s The Saga of Gösta Berling
Monday, February 27, 6:30 pm
Free
This spring presents a continuation of a series of panel discussions begun in early 2011 that emphasize the influence of Nordic literature. American authors, dramatists, critics, and their guests discuss giants of Nordic literature. Rooted in dramatic readings, reflections, and lively discussion, these literary evenings allow readers of today a new window into the lives and characters behind the work of a spectrum of Nordic literary geniuses.
A book event with translator 2004 ASF Translation Prize Winner Paul Norlen and Former ASF Fellow and Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Jennifer Watson celebrate Selma Lagerlöf and her 1891 romantic novel, The Saga of Gösta Berling, the Swedish Gone with the Wind. Danish Minister for Nordic Co-operation and Minister for Gender Equality Manu Sareen will provide introductory remarks.
Presented in association with the Consulate General of Sweden in New York and The American Scandinavian Society of New York.
This literary program coincides with the opening of 50 Years of the Nordic Council Literature Prize. See also EXHIBITIONS section.
The Tale of the Uummannaq
Thursday, March 1, 6:30 pm
Free
The Tale of Uummannaq and Ajajajaja - Galya Morrell’s short documentary and photo-exhibit convey the story of Uummannaq, an isolated village in Northern Greenland at risk of disappearing. A unique project was started there three years ago as a collaboration between local hunters and international artists in order to bridge the island’s geographical isolation and give this village a second chance. Co-founders of Uummannaq Music, Joel Spiegelman, Galya Morrell, and Ole Jorgen Hammeken, get together to talk about the revival of Ajajajaja, a combination of music, storytelling, and unique Greenlandic historical values.
This program is presented in conjunction with a week of special Greenlandic programs. See also Inuk in New Nordic Cinema in Films and Uummannaq Music presents Greenland Children’s Day in Kids & Families.
Women in Leadership: From Senior Management to Peacebuilding
Thursday, March 15, 7:30 pm
By invitation. Please call for details.
Women account for half of the world’s population and half of its talent. But many believe that women are unsuited to leadership roles. Women’s participation at the top echelon of peacebuilding is limited. Also, women’s access to empowerment at the senior level in conflict management and peacekeeping remains almost non-existent. In 2010 the GNWP reported an “extremely low level of women’s official participation as members of peace negotiating teams” (Women Count).
Dr. Mari Simonen, U.N. Population Fund, and other distinguished guests will discuss the disproportionate impact of armed conflicts on women and the gender-specific inadequacies present in the peace processes today.
Produced in collaboration with the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York, Barnard College, The Global Network of Women Peacebuilders, a program of the International Civil society Action Network, and Voices 4 Leaders.
Easy Money
Jens Lapidus
Monday, April 9, 6:30 pm
Free
Stockholm’s underworld, told from the perspective of the mob bosses, the patsies, and the thugs who help operate its twisted justice system.
JW is a student having trouble keeping up appearances in the rich party crowd he has involved himself with. He’s desperate for money, and when he’s offered a job dealing drugs to the very crowd he’s vying for a place in, he accepts it. Meanwhile, Jorge, a young Latino drug dealer, has just broken out of jail and is itching for revenge. When JW’s supplier gets wind of Jorge’s escape, he suggests JW track him down and attempt to win his trust in order to cover more area in the drug circuit. But JW’s not the only one on Jorge’s trail: Mrado, the brutal muscle behind the Yugoslavian mob boss whose goons were the ones who ratted Jorge out to the cops, is also on the hunt. But like everyone else, he’s tired of being a mere pawn in an impossibly risky game, and he’s seeking to carve out a niche of his own. As the paths of these antiheroes intertwine further, they find themselves mercilessly pitted against one another in a world where allegiances are hard-won, revenge is hard-fought, and a way out of it all is even harder to come by.
Fast and intricately paced, and with pitch-perfect dialogue, Easy Money is a raw, dark, and intelligent crime novel that has catapulted Jens Lapidus into the company of Sweden’s most acclaimed crime writers. It is the first of The Stockholm Noir Trilogy, which also includes Aldrig Fucka Upp (Wahlström & Widstrand, 2008).
About the author:
Jens Lapidus is a criminal defense lawyer who represents some of Sweden’s most notorious underworld criminals. He made his writing debut in August 2006 with Easy Money, the first installment of The Stockholm Noir Trilogy. Lapidus lives in Stockholm with his wife.
From Neutral Voice to Active Partner: Sweden’s Changing Role in World Politics
and its Relationship to the U.S.
ASF Visiting Lecturer Jan Joel Andersson
Monday, April 16, 6:30 pm
Free
Sweden’s foreign and security policies underwent dramatic transformations following the end of the Cold War. ASF Visiting Lecturer and Swedish Institute of International Affairs Senior Research Fellow Jan Joel Andersson draws upon his research to examine Sweden’s evolving role in world politics. From being a neutral country that emphasized contributions to the U.N. peacekeeping missions, today Sweden is an extraordinarily close partner to N.A.T.O and the U.S. in areas such as Afghanistan and the Balkans, and together with Norway and Denmark, was among the few European countries that contributed military assets in the N.A.T.O-led campaign in Libya this past summer.
About the ASF Visiting Lecturer:
Dr. Jan Joel Andersson is Senior Research Fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI). He is Head of UI's program on Defense, Security, and Development Policy. After completing his PhD at the University of California at Berkeley in December 2002, Dr. Andersson joined UI as a Research Fellow focusing on European and Transatlantic security and defense. He served as UI's Program Director in charge of the Institute's seminars, conferences, and external relations between August 2006 and September 2010 while concurrently serving as Head of UI's Transatlantic Program. Dr. Andersson has previously taught International Relations at Berkeley, Stockholm, and Uppsala; has served as Senior Analyst and consultant at the risk management firm 4C Strategies AB; has been a visiting Research Fellow at the Institute for Security Studies in Paris (EU-ISS), and worked on the staff of a U.S. Senator on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
Lecture Series
Newly Drawn: Emerging Finnish Architects
Tuesday, February 14 & Wednesday, March 14, 7 pm
Each $10 ($7 ASF Members)
Newly Drawn introduces the most interesting young, upcoming Finnish architects, their latest projects, and ways of working. Touring the world since 2009, the project consists of publications, exhibitions, film screenings, lectures, and workshops.
The series of architectural lectures, panels, and discussions will be held in New York in spring 2012 and will be accompanied by an exhibition opening at the Center for Architecture on April 21, 2012.
Finnish Architecture in Norway: Kilden Performing Arts Centre
with Architect Juho Grönholm
February 14
Kilden, a theater and concert hall in Kristiansand, Norway, opened in January 2012 and has brought together all the city’s institutions of performing arts, including Agder Theatre, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra (KSO), and Opera Sør. The landmark was Finnish architecture firm ALA Architects’ first major project. The complex contains four performance venues with a total of 2,300 seats, world-class acoustics and architecture design for a symphony orchestra. The theater and opera hall is adjusts from an intimate drama venue to a lavish opera and musical auditorium.
The building is also an architectural landmark: the sculptural drama of the curving, wooden foyer wall has become an emblem for the city of Kristiansand. Kilden is a meeting place and a source of pride for the locals.
About the architect:
Juho Grönholm is co-founder of ALA, a Helsinki-based architecture firm seeking fresh angles, flowing forms and surprising solutions on all levels of architecture.
Through ALA’s work, particularly Kilden Performing Arts Centre, Grönholm has gained a reputation as an architect driven by a strong belief in rich, experiential architecture. His solid pre-ALA background in large, prestigious public building projects has secured his reputation as one of the most proficient amongst any talented young architects today.
Grönholm has lectured about architecture in schools and institutions around the world. He has taught at the Helsinki University of Technology since his graduation from its School of Architecture in 2001. His work has been awarded and published globally. He was awarded the Raili and Reima Pietilä in 2008.
Currently Grönholm holds a teaching position in the Public Building Design Chair at the Aalto University School of Architecture, and regularly lectures elsewhere.
Anttinen Oiva Architects: Recent Works
March 14
Vesa Oiva, architect and co-founder of Anttinen Oiva Architects speaks about recent and current projects at the firm, including the Helsinki University Library, City Centre Campus Library, Kaisa Branch, which upon completion in spring 2012, will be the largest academic library in Finland.
About the firm:
Selina Anttinen and Vesa Oiva founded Anttinen Oiva Architects in 2006. The office works extensively with both building design and urban planning. Presently ten architects are employed in the office, based in Helsinki.
The office was founded after winning architectural competitions. The works in progress include: a new residential area in the former garrison area of Poltinaho in Hämeenlinna; as well as a winter swimming center in Rovaniemi. Common to the design of all these schemes is the desire for an ambitious, exciting, and versatile contemporary architecture derived from a demanding context. The objective is to create unique and sustainable environments.
Presented by the Newly Drawn project, the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York, the Consulate General of Finland in New York, the Architectural League of New York, the AIA New York Chapter, and Scandinavia House.