Scandinavia House

SWEDISH 1.1 — ENROLLMENT OPEN
2025-09-22 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-09-29 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered at Scandinavia House, held in-person and virtually! This course is for absolute beginners. Classes take place on Mondays from 6–7:30 PM beginning September 22 through December 8.
In this course students will learn vocabulary, the very basics of Swedish structure and pronunciation while also discussing some quirks of Swedish life. No prerequisites necessary. This class will take place as hybrid learning, with classes offered at Scandinavia House and online via Zoom.
At the end of the semester students will know:
• Sentence structure in statements and questions
• How to greet people
• Numbers and how to tell time
And be able to:
• Talk about themselves and what they do in their day
And be able to:
• Talk about themselves and what they do in their day
This hybrid class will be held both in-person and via Zoom; in-person attendance for the first four classes is highly recommended.
*Please note that there will be no class on October 13, Indigenous People’s Day.*
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SWEDISH 1.2 — ENROLLMENT OPEN
2025-09-22 19:35 - 21:35, 2025-09-29 19:35 - 21:35 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered at Scandinavia House, held in-person and virtually! This course builds upon Swedish 1.1 or its equivalent. Classes take place on Mondays from 7:35–9:35 PM beginning September 22 through December 8.
Students will learn sentence structure in sentences with more than one verb, placement of adverbs, plural endings, conjugation of adjectives, objective and possessive pronouns, and the past tense. Various cultural aspects will also be highlighted during the course. This class will take place as hybrid learning, with classes offered at Scandinavia House and online via Zoom.
At the end of the semester students will know:
• How to structure sentences with more than one verb
• The conjugation of adjectives
• The past tense
And be able to:
• Talk about themselves and what they do in their day
This hybrid class will be held both in-person and via Zoom; in-person attendance for the first four classes is highly recommended.
*Please note that there will be no class on October 13, Indigenous People’s Day.*
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WHEN THE CRANES FLY SOUTH | VIRTUAL TALK
2025-09-24 13:00 - 14:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Join us on September 24 for a virtual book talk with Swedish bestselling author Lisa Ridzén on her debut novel When The Cranes Fly South! The winner of the Swedish Book of the Year Award, this “powerful, sneakily emotional meditation on life and death” follows an elderly man’s attempts to mend his relationship with his son before it’s too late: an emotional story of love, friendship, fatherhood, dogs, and atonement that is already an international sensation.
Bo is running out of time. Yet time is one of the few things he’s got left. These days, his quiet existence is broken up only by daily visits from his home care team. Fortunately, he still has his beloved elkhound Sixten to keep him company … though now his son, with whom Bo has had a rocky relationship, insists upon taking the dog away, claiming that Bo has grown too old to properly care for him. The threat of losing Sixten stirs up a whirlwind of emotion, leading Bo to take stock of his life, his relationships, and the imperfect way he’s expressed his love over the years.
“One of those ‘you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll want to buy twenty copies and give them to everyone you love’ books.” —Fredrik Backman, bestselling author of A Man Called Ove, in The New Yorker
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INNSÆI | VIRTUAL TALK
2025-09-25 13:00 - 14:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Join us on September 25 for a virtual book talk with Icelandic author Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir on her book InnSæi. Moderated by policy researcher Tara McGuinness, this discussion will delve into intuition through the lens of InnSæi and its unique applications in addressing our contemporary crises, be it in the climate or the global economy. Gunnsteinsdóttir’s work is an ode to the magnificent, complex, largely incomprehensible but fascinating world that exists within us all– the titular InnSæi (pronounced In-Sy-Eh) – the Icelandic word for intuition that at once implies ‘the sea within us’, ‘to see within’ and ‘to see from the inside out’. It is based on the belief that the more we navigate life aligned to our InnSæi, the more we can open up to the beautiful, generous world that lies outside us.
In the mad dash for a different, more humane and eco-centric (rather than ego-centric) compass to navigate our ways into flourishing futures, Gunnsteinsdóttir weaves personal stories, diverse wisdoms, and the arts into “a transformative perspective on intuition that is desperately needed for today’s leaders.” Drawing on a blend of ancient wisdom, science, philosophy and practical tools, this book inspires readers to approach life in a more grounded, creative and mindful way.
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NORDIC BOOK CLUB ONLINE | GIRL, 1983 BY LINN ULLMANN
2025-10-07 18:00 - 19:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Read and discuss literature with our Nordic Book Club Online! Nordic Book Club meets monthly via Zoom to discuss contemporary literature in translation. On October 7, we’ll be discussing the novel Girl, 1983 by Norwegian author Linn Ullman.
Described as “a mesmerizing act of recollection and reconstitution” by Publishers Weekly, Girl, 1983 delves into Ullman’s unflinching recount of a fateful encounter nearly 40 years on: one between her 16-year-old self and a 40-something fashion photographer in the elevator of her apartment building in New York City. She accepts his invitation to a photo shoot in Paris, despite her mother’s objections. Looking back, she cautiously approaches describing what is clearly a traumatic episode, the details of which she gradually untangles through the confessional writings of women who she finds share her experience. Set in Oslo, New York, and Paris, Girl, 1983 is a genre-defying and bravura quest through layers of memory and oblivion. As in her landmark previous work, Unquiet, Linn Ullmann’s narrator continues to probe the elegiac sway of memory as she looks for ways to disclose a long-guarded secret. A delineation of time and place over the course of a life, this remarkable novel insistently crisscrosses the path of a wayward sixteen-year-old girl lost in Paris.
Girl, 1983 is available in hardcover and eBook from W.W. Norton and other retailers.
“While Ullmann is describing her exploitation as a young woman, she brings such precision and honesty to the telling, the book transcends the familiar #MeToo outline. An accomplished author… Ullmann captures the splintered, slippery nature of memory itself — a far more faithful rendering of how the mind works…” —Clare McHugh, Washington Post
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NORWEGIAN 1 — ENROLLMENT OPEN
2025-10-07 18:00 - 19:00, 2025-10-08 18:00 - 19:00, 2025-10-14 18:00 - 19:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered at Scandinavia House, held in-persona and virtually. This course is for absolute beginners. Classes take place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 6–7 PM beginning October 7 through December 8; enrollment is open through October 14, 2025.
In this beginner’s course, you will build your Norwegian vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar skills, while also learning about Norwegian culture and life. By the course’s end, you should be able to conduct simple conversations in Norwegian. Students are welcome to bring facts they know about Norway into class discussions.
You will get to practice small conversations and reading in class, and there will be a focus on pronunciation and certain Norwegian vowels and sounds which may be new to your ear. There will also be at-home assignments focusing on reading, writing, and grammar, as well as an optional end-of-semester presentation. Outside of class, students are encouraged to watch Norwegian shows/movies, read children’s books, and have podcasts on in the background.
This hybrid class will be held both in-person and via Zoom; in-person attendance for the first four classes is highly recommended.
*Please note that there will be no classes on November 26. Thanksgiving week classes will be held online only and will take place Monday, November 24 and Tuesday, November 25. Celebration and last week of class will be on Monday Dec 8, only.*
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ADVANCED NORWEGIAN — ENROLLMENT OPEN
2025-10-07 19:15 - 21:15, 2025-10-14 19:15 - 21:15 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered at Scandinavia House!
Continuing from Norwegian 4 or 5, this course will expand and refine your speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills as you deepen your knowledge of Norwegian culture. Hone in on your comprehension, fluency, and accuracy as you engage more confidently in conversations and discussions with your classmates and teacher, further expanding your vocabulary and mastering more complex grammatical structures. Through the study of themes related to daily life, students are encouraged to talk about their own experiences in Norwegian. In-depth focus will be given to pronunciation, Norwegian structure, tone, and flow. There will also be weekly at-home exercises, a film, and more, focusing on listening, reading, writing, and grammar, as well as an end-of-semester presentation which focuses on creativity, content, and delivery.
Students are strongly encouraged to watch and read Norwegian news and books, shows and movies, and to listen to podcasts/audio books, several times a week, to be as immersed as possible in the Norwegian language, thus advancing their fluency and listening skills.
Students should be comfortable leading conversations in Norwegian, using the simple past tense and present perfect. They should have knowledge of regular and irregular verbs, as well as their irregularities and rules. They should also be able to use indefinite, definite, and plural forms of masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns; conjugate adjectives; and apply intermediate Norwegian sentence structure, including “inversion.”
This hybrid class will be held both in-person and via Zoom; in-person attendance for the first four classes is highly recommended. Classes take place on Tuesdays from 7:15-9:15 PM beginning October 7 and ending December 9.
Classes take place on Tuesdays from 7:15-9:15 PM beginning October 7 and ending December 9; enrollment is open through October 7.
This hybrid class will be held both in-person and via Zoom; in-person attendance for the first four classes is highly recommended.
*Please note that the class on November 25 will be online only.*
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NORTH STAR RISING
2025-10-08 18:30 - 20:30 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
On October 8, join us for a joyous, musical homage to Norwegian immigration to the United States. “North Star Rising: New York Opera Society (NYOS) and Opera Nordfjord celebrate Crossings 200” explores two centuries of rich transnational exchange through musical selections that honor the past while looking to imagine the future.
ASF Fellow Alisa Jordheim and NYOS will present Norwegian art songs and excerpts of an acclaimed new musical by NYOS’ Norwegian composer-librettist duo Gisle Kverndokk and Øystein Wiik. They will be joined by tenor Allan Palacios Chan, repetiteur Jason Wirth, and narrated by Øystein Wiik.
Tickets to this event must be reserved in advance online.
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NORWEGIAN 3/4 — ENROLLMENT OPEN
2025-10-08 19:15 - 21:15, 2025-10-15 19:15 - 21:15 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered in-person and virtually at Scandinavia House! Classes take place on Wednesdays from 7:15–9:15 PM beginning October 8 and ending on December 10; enrollment is open through October 15.
Norwegian 3/4 is a combined advanced beginner-level course that builds upon Norwegian 2 or its equivalent. All four core skill areas (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) are covered with an emphasis on conversational Norwegian. Continue to expand your vocabulary and master grammatical structures, while enhancing your conversational abilities, and deepening your cultural knowledge of all things Norwegian, through study of themes related to daily life. Students are encouraged to bring Norwegian topics of interest, into class, for discussion as well as talk about their own experiences in Norwegian. They will get to practice more in-depth conversations in class which will put grammatical structures to the test, all the while building on listening, and speaking skills. Focus will be given to pronunciation, Norwegian structure, tone, and flow.
There will also be weekly at-home assignments, and more, focusing on reading, writing, and grammar, as well as a recommended end-of-semester presentation. Students are strongly encouraged to watch and read Norwegian news, watch Norwegian shows and listen to podcasts/audio books, as often as possible, on a weekly basis at a minimum.
This hybrid class will be held both in-person and via Zoom; in-person attendance for the first four classes is highly recommended. Please note that there will be no class on November 26.
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KNITTING THURSDAYS! | LEARN TO KNIT WITH HILARY SNELL
2025-10-09 18:00 - 20:00, 2025-10-23 18:00 - 20:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Learn to knit at Scandinavia House this fall in classes in October and November!
When one thinks of Scandinavia, one of the first things that comes to mind is the distinctive patterns of knitted sweaters. Knitting has been an essential part of Nordic culture since the early 1500s and people, sheep and knitting have always been inextricably linked. The craft has been a source of artistic expression while also keeping generations warm during the long, cold winters.
Knitting is a symbol of self-sufficiency. Families tended the sheep, spun the wool from those sheep and used yarn to clothe themselves and their loved ones. They would also sell their work to support their families. Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland all have rich and varied knitting traditions and continue to express themselves through stunning design and wool work.
Join us for small, two-hour workshops to learn the basics of knitting. In a casual and supportive setting, you’ll learn how to cast on, knit, purl, and cast off. You’ll leave with your own knitted piece to continue your work at home. Scandinavia House will supply the needles and the yarn.
DID YOU KNOW? Repetitive motions like knitting, where your mind becomes fully absorbed in the task, can lead to increased happiness and decreased stress.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:
Hilary Snell, a longtime visitor services staff member of Scandinavia House, is of English, Scottish, and Irish descent, and loves everything about Nordic culture. She was taught to knit by her grandmother and mother when she was eight years old and took it up again in her late 20s, and has been knitting ever since. She enjoys sharing her love of the craft and of fiber arts in general. See her work at: https://www.instagram.com/lockwoodknits/
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ON HIGH HEELS IN AMERICA
2025-10-11 15:00 - 17:30 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
On October 11, see the American premiere of a documentary following six women whose daring transatlantic crossings helped to revolutionize Norway, followed by a film talk by director Gunhild Westhagen Magnor and bestselling author Siv Ringdal! Based on Ringdal’s bestselling book of the same name, “On High Heels in America” reveals a cross-cultural journey of independence for Norwegian women who emigrated to NYC following WWII.
In the turbulent post-war period from 1946 to 1965, a lot of young, unmarried women left their pietistic home of Agder in the south of Norway— known as the “Nordic bible belt” —and emigrated to New York to find work. What awaited them was a completely new world: an American consumer society which gave them the opportunity to form a new identity and flourish in personal freedom. Many later returned to Norway, taking home with them customs and ways of life that helped shape Norwegian social development in the late 20th century.
Through intimate and heartfelt retellings from six of the women in this small but mighty movement, combined with unique archive footage, we get an intimate insight into their lives, shifting attitudes, and ever-present notions of home. They each tell the story of their grand journey with humor and wit, shedding light on timeless topics like social control, women’s liberation, migration, and the glitz of the American dream.

CAN YOU HEAR ME? THE INVISIBLE BATTLES OF UKRAINIAN MILITARY MEDICS
2025-10-14 18:30 - 20:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
On October 14, see the documentary Can You Hear Me? the Invisible Battles of Ukrainian Military Medics, followed by a discussion with Alexandra Domaradsky (Razom for Ukraine), Dr. Anastasiia Vlasenko (the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University), and Sebastian Lindstrom (Head of International Cooperation at the Charitable Foundation Repower), moderated by award-winning journalist Jane Ferguson.
Filmmakers Francis Farrell and Olena Zashko followed a group of Ukrainian military medics as they journeyed from the heat of battle in war-torn Ukraine to the serene forests of Sweden for a short mental health retreat. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, witnessing an endless conveyer belt of severe injuries and deaths has taken a heavy toll on the medics’ mental health. Although crucial to address, the issue of their psychological well-being is rarely talked about and often overlooked, leaving them alone in this invisible battle.
As they find themselves in a peaceful, quiet environment in Sweden for the first time since 2022, the medics have a chance to process the accumulated trauma. Together, they open up about losing brothers-in-arms, surviving Russian captivity, and the inescapable feeling of guilt for not being able to save some of the soldiers they treated.
Filmed over the course of nine months, including multiple trips to the front line in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts as well as a 10-day visit to Sweden, the documentary also highlights the work of Repower NGO, which brings groups of medics to mental health trips in Sweden, Denmark and Spain. Since the organization’s founding in 2023, 755 military medics have participated in their program.
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FAMILY WORKSHOP
2025-10-18 10:00 - 12:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Please join us in celebrating Scandinavia House’s 25th anniversary by participating in a family-friendly art workshop. We will draw inspiration from one of Scandinavia’s most-beloved storybook character, the Swedish Pippi Longstocking, who is turning 80 years old this year! Children ages 1-5 and their families will enjoy making a communal project, Pippi-inspired collage, Pippi masks and more.
Everyone ages 1+ must hold a ticket to access the workshop.
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ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Melkorka Helgadottir, A.K.A. Korka, is an Icelandic visual artist and teaching artist living in Brooklyn, NY. She received an MFA in Sculpture from San Francisco Art Institute and has taught for Brooklyn Arts Council, LEAP, and Studio in a School. As a teaching artist, Korka believes in nurturing the creative spark that each of her students possesses. She is currently working on an autobiographical comic.

CURATOR WALKTHROUGH - A TIME FOR EVERYTHING
2025-10-18 11:00 - 12:00 | NY
On view from October 18, 2025 to February 14, 2026 at Scandinavia House, A Time for Everything, a group exhibition of internationally acclaimed Nordic artists — all of whom have presented work in the Scandinavia House Galleries over the past 25 years — will underscore the vision of the Scandinavia House Galleries as a steward for new and established Nordic voices in the contemporary artistic landscape, and for promoting the exchange of ideas and culture between the United States and Nordic region.
In this guided tour by Emily Stoddart, ASF’s Manager of Exhibitions & Community Programs, and curator of the exhibition, learn about the artists in this exhibition and their works.
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ARTIST TALK: PEKKA AND TEIJA ISORÄTTYÄ
2025-10-18 14:00 - 15:00 | NY
Join us for a talk with A Time for Everything Finnish artist duo Pekka and Teija Isorättyä.
Originally from Tornio, Finland, Pekka and Teija Isorättyä (both b. 1980) are best known for their mechanical sculptures, robots and installations that explore the human relationship to technology and nature in a poetic manner, but also with tongue-in-cheek playfulness. The Isorättyäs often use recycled materials, scrap metals and waste plastic, as well as bone and animal leather as the starting point for their works, combining them with technology.
Over recent years Pekka and Teija have fused their material sensibilities with architecture, developing large-scale public sculptures and installations for planetariums, universities, hospitals, train stations, and more, throughout Finland. In this discussion, Pekka and Teija will talk about their work “Love Gear”, in the current exhibition, A Time for Everything, and describe other recent projects, including a Baby Whale for Assi Hospital in Hämeenlinna, a Raven (“Korppi”) bird hovering over the Tikkurila metro station, and the beloved BUKO, a robot tribute to Charles Bukowski.
Pekka and Teija have exhibited internationally, and have lived and worked in Mexico, Japan, New York, and Berlin. They have received the Lapland Art Award, the William Thuring Foundation Prize, Public Choice Awards from the Ars Fennica 2017 exhibition at Kiasma and the 2010 and 2011 Nord Art exhibitions in Germany. In addition to the Turku City Art Collection, their works are found in the collections of the Finnish National Gallery, the Aine Art Museum and the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation Collection.
The Isorättyäs have previously been featured in Scandinavia House events The Artist Family Isorättyä (Documentary Screening and Discussion), The Experimental Lens: Edvard Munch’s Photography, Virtual Studio Visit: Pekka and Teija Isorättyä, and LEGO® Hybrid Sculptures with Artists Pekka & Teija Isorättyä
Following the talk, there will be a panel alongside exhibition curator Emily Stoddart.
Note: registration link applies to both the 2 PM talk and 3 PM talk; either may be attended upon registration. Attendees of the afternoon talks are also invited to special Open House Party from 4-6 PM.
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A TIME FOR EVERYTHING: ARTIST AND CURATOR TALK WITH MARGRETHE AANESTAD, OLE BRODERSEN, KARIN HELLANDSJØ, SIMEN JOHAN, AND EMILY STODDART
2025-10-18 15:00 - 16:00 | NY
Please join us for an artist and curator discussion as part of the opening programs for A Time for Everything: 25 Years of Contemporary Art at Scandinavia House. Norwegian artists Margrethe Aanestad, Ole Brodersen, and Simen Johan join curator and art historian Karin Hellandsjø, and the exhibition’s curator Emily Stoddart, to discuss the artists and artwork featured in the current exhibition, share their own experiences working, exhibiting — and, in some cases, living — in New York, and reflect on the current relationship between New York and the Nordic region’s artist community-at-large.
Note: registration link applies to both the 2 PM talk and 3 PM talk; either may be attended upon registration. Attendees of the afternoon talks are also invited to special Open House Party from 4-6 PM.
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ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS
SIMEN JOHAN
Simen Johan has exhibited widely across the globe, including at Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, Norway; Ciurlionis National Art Museum, Lithuania; Center for Photography, Ykatinburg, Russia; The American Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan and Space Z, Beijing, China. Johan’s work is held in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, NY; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA; Cleveland Art Museum, OH; Museum of Fine Art Houston, TX; Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada; and the Denver Art Museum, CO, among others. The artist is the recipient of the George A. and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation Grant for Photography, Pollack-Krasner Foundation Grant, American-Scandinavian Foundation Grant, MacDowell Colony Fellowship, and New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship. Five monographs have been published on his work, including titles from Rizzoli, Twin Palms, and Powerhouse Books. Simen Johan was born in Norway in 1973, raised in Sweden and has resided in New York City since 1992.
KARIN HELLANDSJØ
Karin Hellandsjø (b. 1944), art historian, PhD, from the University of Oslo. She worked as curator at the Henie Onstad Art Centre for almost two decades, during the 1970’s and 80’s, before joining the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Oslo as their chief curator and head of the museum department from 1988 till 2005. In March 2005 she came back to the Henie Onstad Art Centre as director. She retired in 2011 and is now working as independent scholar and art consultant.
Hellandsjø has since the start of her career been involved in national and international museum work and collaboration, and has curated many major exhibitions throughout the years. She is also a notable scholar on modern art, a lecturer and an active writer. Hellandsjø is appointed Knight, 1st class, of the Royal Norwegian Order of St.Olav and Officier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres, de la Republique Francaise.
OLE BRODERSEN
Ole Brodersen (b. 1981) lives and works, as the 12th generation of his family, in Lyngør, a car-free island community on the southern coast of Norway. He works with analog large-format photography, focusing on the interplay between natural forces, cultural heritage, and changing communities. Trained as an Art Director he has also worked as assistant to Dag Alveng. He debuted in 2009 with photographs from an Atlantic circumnavigation in an 1894 pilot cutter. His work has been acquired by the National Museum of Photography (Norway) and exhibited in Norway and internationally, including in New York, London, Venice, Paris, and Boston. He recently published his first book Imagine a Place.
MARGRETHE AANESTAD
Margrethe Aanestad (1974) was born in Stavanger on the South West Coast of Norway. Since 2012 she has been living and working between Stavanger, Norway and New York City. Aanestad studied fine arts at the Rogaland Art College, Norway and holds a BA in Art & Cultural studies from the University of Stavanger. Aanestad has shown internationally, primarily in the USA, as well as in Europe. Previous solo exhibitions include Utstein Monastery (Stavanger Museum), Norway; Kunsthall Stavanger, Norway; Torrance Shipman, NYC; Dimensions Variable, Miami; Open Source Gallery, NYC. Selected duo- and group shows include Sandefjord kunstforening, Norway; Scandinavia House, NYC; Dimensions Variable, Miami; Yi Gallery, NYC; Tiger Strikes Asteroid, NYC; Interface gallery, Oakland; Abingdon Studios, UK; Another Space, Copenhagen. Aanestad has also participated in several group and duo shows in New York City, Miami, Oakland, Costa Rica, Copenhagen and the UK, in addition to multiple art institutions in her native Norway. Residencies include Residency Unlimited, NYC and Artists Alliance Inc., NYC.
EMILY STODDART
Emily Stoddart is a Canadian artist, curator, and cultural producer, with over 18 years of experience in the professional visual arts field. Currently, she is the manager of exhibitions and community programs at Scandinavia House, New York, where she organizes, curates, and produces exhibitions and related visual culture programming, with a focus on the Nordic region. Emily has organized large international exhibitions in partnership with Ateneum, Finnish National Gallery; Munchmuseet, Oslo; The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.; National Gallery of the Faroe Islands, KODE Bergen Art Museum; as well as various independent curators, artist-run spaces, universities, and gallerists in the Nordic region. Emily has curated and produced exhibitions and public programming in conjunction with the Armory Fair (NY); Feature Art Fair (Toronto), Frieze New York, NY Textile Month, as well as with galleries, cultural spaces, and artist-run centers in New York City, Canada, the Nordic and the Baltic regions.
Photo Credits:
Ole Brodersen headshot: Sverre Aurstad
Margrethe Aanestad headshot: Ben Goldstein
Karin Hellandsjø headshot: Øystein Thorvaldsen

OPEN HOUSE PARTY — A TIME FOR EVERYTHING
2025-10-18 16:00 - 18:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Join us for a celebration of Scandinavia House’s A Time for Everything: 25 Years of Contemporary Art at Scandinavia House. Presented in conjunction with the 25th Anniversary of our cultural center, which has welcomed over 3 million visitors since opening its doors in October 2000, this group exhibition of internationally acclaimed Nordic artists — all of whom have presented work in the Scandinavia House Galleries over the past 25 years — will underscore the vision of the Galleries as a steward for new and established Nordic voices in the contemporary artistic landscape, and for promoting the exchange of ideas and culture between the United States and Nordic region.
*Registration not required for RSVP holders for related Artist Talk & Curator Panel)*

AN AFTERNOON WITH ISABELLA ROSSELLINI — WITH STIG BJÖRKMAN
2025-10-19 15:00 - 17:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Join us on October 19 with acclaimed actress, filmmaker, and writer Isabella Rossellini in conversation with Swedish director and writer Stig Björkman for a wide-ranging exploration of cinema, family legacy and creative expression.
The afternoon will feature a selection of film clips that highlight key moments in Ms. Rossellini’s life and career. Beginning with Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words, the conversation will reflect on Rossellini’s mother’s legacy, as well as personal and professional highlights, from Rossellini’s own roles, and her collaboration with directors such as David Lynch (Blue Velvet) and Guy Maddin (My Dad is 100 Years Old). She will also share insights on the influence of her father, director Roberto Rossellini, whose groundbreaking film Rome, Open City marks its 80th anniversary this year.
Beyond cinema, Ms. Rossellini will speak about her transition into filmmaking with her own short comedies, such as Piping Plover, and how working with small crews empowered her as a director. She will also touch upon her academic work in ethology, her passion for animals, and her ongoing work at Mama Farm, her organic farm and creative hub.
All 25th Anniversary Year Programs are supported by the Monika and Charles Heimbold Fund for Exhibitions and Programs.
Photos: Isabella Rossellini—Photo by Paola Kudacki

101 REYKJAVIK
2025-10-22 19:00 - 21:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
“A funny, offbeat romantic comedy” —on October 22, see 101 Reykjavik to kick off our 25th Anniversary Rescreens! Directed by Baltasar Kormákur (Everest; Touch), this deadpan black comedy features the unyielding Icelandic landscape as a backdrop to an unlikely tryst.
Based on the classic Icelandic novel by Hallgrímur Helgason, 101 Reykjavík (Iceland, 2000) was a cultural smash upon its release, winning the Discovery Award at Toronto International Film Festival, and was one of the very first films screened here at Scandinavia House. Now, for our 25th anniversary, we’re returning to the story of Hlynur (Hilmir Snær Guðnason), circling 30 and still living with his parents, who is wasting life away either in a deadbeat bar or at home downloading porn. He is shocked out of his ennui when his mother’s friend Lola (Victoria Abril) comes to visit, a flamenco dancer whose enigmatic ways entrance Hylnur. But is Lola’s relationship with Hylnur’s mother all that it seems?
“Finely acted and shot with a beautiful, understated cinematic sweep … 101 Reykjavk is a poignant, endearingly offbeat work.” (Philadelphia Enquirer)
“A film that’s as outlandish as it is entertaining…” (Film Threat)
This program has been supported by the Monika and Charles Heimbold Fund for Exhibitions and Programs.

BETWEEN LICHEN AND HEAVEN
2025-10-23 19:00 - 21:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Join us for a screening and discussion with ASF Fellow Susanna Monseau and filmmaker Ruth Grimberg on their documentary Between Lichen and Heaven, exploring the Ahlskog Tannery in Ostrobothnia, the last reindeer leather tannery in Finland.
In the small town of Kronoby, Finland, the last reindeer tannery continues a fragile craft that links Sámi herders, local communities, and the global fashion industry. As reindeer hides risk becoming waste, the tannery struggles to survive amid economic pressures, shifting sustainability laws, and climate change. Interwoven with the voices of herders and tannery workers, Between Lichen and Heaven reflects on the precarity of livelihoods where culture, ecology, and economy remain inseparably connected. By looking at the tannery’s place in the Finnish fashion supply chain, the film also explores how global textiles and fashion industry companies in Finland have embedded sustainability as a key value, and how they work to understand and improve their operations to uphold their responsibility to people and the planet.

THE DAY ICELAND STOOD STILL (50th Anniversary)
2025-10-24 19:00 - 21:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic Women’s Strike with a October 24 screening of The Day Iceland Stood Still, with a film talk by director Pamela Hogan!
When 90 percent of the women of Iceland walked off the job and out of their homes one fall morning in 1975 refusing to work, cook, or take care of the children, they brought their country to a standstill and catapulted Iceland to the “best place in the world to be a woman.” Told for the first time by the women themselves, and laced with playful animation, The Day Iceland Stood Still is subversive and unexpectedly funny. “We loved our male chauvinist pigs,” recalls one of the activists, “We just wanted to change them a little!”
Filmed in a collaboration between U.S. director Hogan, who campaigned as a high school student in the 1970s with her activist mother to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, and Icelandic producer Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir, who at the age of seven accompanied her mother to the 1975 strike, the film features appearances by celebrities such as former Icelandic president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the world’s first democratically elected female head of state, as well as music by Björk. Released in the lead-up to the strike’s 50th anniversary in 2025, the film’s message about the collective power of women to transform their society inspires viewers to reimagine the impossible.

ARVO PÄRT - EVEN IF I LOSE EVERYTHING
2025-10-25 14:00 - 16:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
On October 25, see “Even If I Lose Everything,” Dorian Supin’s third and final documentary about Estonian master composer Arvo Pärt, with a panel featuring celebrated virtuosos Peter Bouteneff, David Lang, and Paavo Järvi to follow! This program takes place alongside celebrations of the composer this season at Carnegie Hall, including an October 23 performance with the Estonian Festival Orchestra, and will be conducted in the presence of H.E. Alar Karis, President of Estonia, H.E. Heidy Purga, Estonia’s Minister of Culture, and H.E. Kristjan Prikk, Estonia’s Ambassador to the United States.
Perhaps the most personal installment of Supin’s series, this intimate portrait steps closer to the man behind the music, showing his many sides in a domestic setting as a composer, husband, father, and grandfather as he navigates the demands of his legacy. Once known as the avant-garde firebrand driven from his country by Soviet censorship for his radically prayerful melodies, “Even If I Lose Everything” centers on the gentler rhythms of Pärt’s days back home on the eve of his 80th birthday.
The film draws its title – and much of its stories – from flashes of Pärt’s workbooks, all of which he has kept close through endless personal and political upheavals. Throughout his decades of writing music, he has filled the workbooks with contemplations expressing his moments of grief and joy, his discoveries, worries, and experiences. The musings and recollections inspired by these notes, in parallel with glimpses of domesticity, come together to reveal a composer committed to living a life in accordance with the music he creates: meditative, emotionally evocative, spacious, and grounded in the realm of the sacred.
Pärt’s music has insinuated itself deep into the cultural landscape, not only as a phenomenon extending far beyond the usual classical listenership. It has enriched countless films and dance compositions, it has inspired the work of visual artists and architects. And although his musical style is rarely imitated in a direct fashion, he has influenced contemporary composers in ways that may be less obvious. How does this gentle music make such a broad and deep impact? The panel conversation will draw us deeper into Pärt’s cultural resonance.

THE HARALD VOETMANN TRILOGY
2025-10-27 19:00 - 20:30 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Join us on October 27 for a book talk with Danish bestselling author Harald Voetmann on his “erudite, grotesque, and absurdist trilogy”– Awake, Sublunar, and Visions and Temptations –moderated by Morten Høi Jensen. Voetmann’s eye-opening, visceral works cover mankind’s inhuman will to conquer nature through the eyes of various mystics, scientists, and innovators across centuries and landscapes in Europe: a bumbling Roman author and naturalist who perishes in Pompeii; pioneering Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe on the verge of a discovery; and a Benedictine monk on his deathbed.
In each novel, the genius of the protagonists clash with the inevitable prospects of their all-too-average demise, with their gazes held elsewhere, be it to the stars or into Hell. Voetmann’s works are a comic delight about a few of history’s greatest minds and the not-so-great human bodies they were housed in. Awake, Sublunar, and Visions and Temptations are all out now through New Directions Publishing.
“Reading Voetmann’s books makes me feel so alive. His voice is like no other, his hold on his material masterful.” — Olga Ravn, author of The Employees
