On the Arctic Edge — Artists Explore the Far North
2022-10-21 12:00 - 2023-01-28 18:00 (America/New_York) | NY
Opening October 21 at Scandinavia House, On the Arctic Edge — Artists Explore the Far North presents three contemporary photo-based artists whose work traverses the regions of the Arctic Circle to probe themes ranging from time and memory, to landscape and the built environment, to science and mythology, to our changing climate: Marion Belanger, Clare Benson, and Steve Giovinco. Each artist is an ASF Fellow having received financial support from the American-Scandinavian Foundation from funds donated by Scandinavian Seminar
Photographer and Interdisciplinary artist Clare Benson’s series Until There Is No Sun is a poetic investigation of the Arctic’s duality: the relationships between light and seeing, earth and sky, science and ancient myth. Over the span of nearly a year living in the far north of Arctic Sweden, Benson worked alongside space physicists, Sami indigenous reindeer herders, and scientist studying the eyes of Arctic reindeer to capture photographs, videos, and collected artifacts, exploring how weather and time have worn and carved a world that slowly turns its back to the light. Included in the exhibition, the video work A Thousand Suns is a time-lapse capture of images made by an All-Sky Camera looking up through the roof of the Swedish Institute for Space Physics (IRF) in Kiruna. Photographs on view include her Seasonal Adaptations in the Eyes of Arctic Reindeer, which portray how Arctic reindeer adapt to extreme changes in sunlight through a shift in their tapetum lucidum, a mirror-like tissue behind the retina.
Marion Belanger photographs the cultural landscape, particularly where geology and the built environment intersect, exploring concepts of persistence and change and ways that boundaries demarcate differences. A recipient of awards including a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, whose photographs are included in many permanent collections including the Library of Congress, her series Rift/Fault studies shifting land-based tectonic edges of the North American Continental Plate in Iceland and California.
Examining their unpredictable and uncontainable behavior — immune to any human efforts of control — Belanger’s series pairs images from the Mid-Atlantic Rift in Iceland with those captured along the San Andreas Fault, allowing for a dialogue between the wild and the contained, the fertile and the barren, the geologic and the human, in a way that questions the uneasy relationship between geological force, and the limits of human enterprise. Published in the 2017 monograph Rift/Fault (Radius Books), author and art critic Lucy Lippard writes in her introduction that Belanger “comments on the visible and the invisible, acknowledgement and denial, examining, in the process, the ‘dangerous disconnect,’ where so-called ordinary lives play out in the shadows of potential cataclysm.”
NYC-based fine-art photographer Steve Giovinco’s lyrical night landscapes in the recent series Inertia look at the land, ice, and communities of Southern Greenland. An MFA graduate from Yale University School of Art whose work is collected by museums including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Giovinco traveled to locations including Narsarsuaq, a small remote town lying in the shadow of glaciers, to capture vast scarred landscapes; shrinking icebergs and ice floes; desolate villages; and four hundred-year-old Norse ruins; all marked with minimal traces of human intervention. Photographed through the hours of changing light at dawn, twilight, or nighttime the vistas are haunted, luminous, magical and at times devastating.
Each artist is an ASF Fellow having received financial support from the American-Scandinavian Foundation, which since it began over a century ago has awarded over 5,500 fellowships and grants to Americans and Scandinavians. This exhibition is made possible due to the generosity of the Inger G. & William B. Ginsberg Support Fund, the Virginia Barron Tayloe Bequest, the Bonnier Family Fund for Contemporary Art and the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation.
About the Artists
Clare Benson is a photographer and interdisciplinary artist whose work explores themes of family history, tradition, science, and mythology. She received her MFA from the University of Arizona and her BFA from Central Michigan University. In 2014-15 she was the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to Arctic Sweden, where she worked alongside space scientists and indigenous Sami reindeer herders. Her first book The Shepherd’s Daughter was published in 2017 by Photolucida, in receipt of the Critical Mass Book Award. Benson’s work has been featured in exhibitions, screenings, and publications across the U.S. and internationally.
Marion Belanger is interested in the concepts of persistence and change, and in the way that boundaries demarcate difference, particularly in regards to the land. She has been the recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, a John Anson Kittredge Award, an American Scandinavian Fellowship, Connecticut Commission on the Arts Fellowships, and has been an artist in residence at the MacDowell Colony, at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, at the Virginia Center for the Arts and at Everglades National Park.
Marion Belanger earned her MFA from the Yale University School of Art where she was the recipient of both the John Ferguson Weir Award and the Schickle-Collingwood Prize, and a BFA from the College of Art & Design at Alfred University. Her photographs are included in many permanent collections including the Library of Congress, the National Gallery of Art, the Yale University Gallery of Art, the New Orleans Museum of Art and the International Center of Photography.
Steve Giovinco is a New York City-based fine-art photographer, who focuses on creating images of couples with himself and lyrical night landscapes. His work is collected by many museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, has exhibited widely in galleries and received his MFA from Yale University School of Art. His new photo series Inertia looks at the land, ice and communities in Southern Greenland including the tiny remote town Narsarsuaq, population 158, which lies in the shadow of glaciers.

This exhibition is made possible due to the generosity of the Inger G. & William B. Ginsberg Support Fund, the Virginia Barron Tayloe Bequest, the Bonnier Family Fund for Contemporary Art and the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation.

Beginner Swedish 2 & 3
2022-10-24 18:00 - 19:10, 2022-10-27 18:00 - 19:10
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered this fall both remotely and in-house at Scandinavia House! In this combined course of two levels, students who already have some exposure to Swedish via apps or other means will continue to develop their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills within a cultural context.
At the end of the semester students will know:

Objective, possessive and some indefinite pronouns
Adjective conjugations and comparatives
Past and present perfect tense

Students will be able to:

Talk about their families and things they’ve done or do, as well as make future plans, ask for directions, and compare and purchase items.

Prerequisite: Swedish Beginner 1 course or equivalent. This course will take place in a hybrid format offered in-person at Scandinavia House and via Zoom; instructions for remote learning will be emailed upon registration. For questions about language levels, please contact Malin Tybahl. Tuition is $695 ($625.50 ASF Members); 21 hours total class time.
**There will be no class on October 10 (Columbus Day), October 31 (Halloween), or November 3.**

Norwegian I
2022-10-24 18:30 - 20:30
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered this fall at Scandinavia House! 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.
You will get to practice conversations in class, as well as reading, in class, and there will be a focus on pronunciation and Norwegian sounds which may be new to your ear. There will also be at-home assignments focusing on reading, writing, and grammar.
Ideal for:

Absolute beginners
Those seeking a solid foundation in the Norwegian language
Those interested in traveling to Norway

You will develop:

Beginner-level conversational skills in Norwegian
Proficiency in basic Norwegian grammar

This hybrid class will be held both in-person and via Zoom; in-person attendance for the first four classes is highly recommended.
No prerequisites required; instructions for remote learning will be emailed upon registration. For questions about language levels, please contact Marie-Therese Bjornerud. Tuition is $675 ($607.50 ASF Members); 20 hours total class time.
Required & Recommended Material
Required:
Textbook: PA VEI TEKSTBOK, ELLINGSEN, 2012 – ISBN: 9788202340940
Workbook: PA VEI ARBEIDSBOK, ELLINGSEN, 2012 – ISBN: 9788202343163
Highly Recommended:
Word List: PA VEI Norsk-Engelsk Ordliste, ELLINGSEN, 2012 – ISBN: 9788202372255
CD-set: PA VEI ELEV-CD til tekstbok, ELLINGSEN, 2012 – ISBN: 9788202371869
Also Recommended:
Online exercises (both oral and written) following the textbook
Notebooks for vocabulary as well as notes
Duolingo (Android, Apple) and other language apps to expand vocabulary and support the learning process

Advanced Beginner Swedish 1
2022-10-25 18:30 - 20:10
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered this fall at Scandinavia House! In this course held as remote learning, students will continue to perfect their previous learned skills and pronunciation, while also expanding into more complex sentence structure. Furthermore, the students will be asked to express their opinions or beliefs in simple discussions related to Swedish life within the themes studied. The students will be required to read a literary book over the course of the semester.
At the end of the semester, students will know:

How to connect main and sub-clauses
Adverbs denoting position or destination
The concept of depiction

Students will be able to:

Talk about people, computers, food and things done and wished for in the past.

Prerequisite: Swedish Beginner 3 level or equivalent. This course will take place remotely via Zoom; instructions for remote learning will be emailed upon registration. For questions about language levels, please contact Malin Tybahl. Tuition is $499 ($449.10 ASF Members); 15 hours total class time.
**There will be no class on October 4 (Yom Kippur) or November 8 (Election Day)**

Norwegian II—Hybrid Language Classes
2022-10-25 18:30 - 20:30
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered this fall at Scandinavia House! In course building on Norwegian I (or equivalent), continue to expand your vocabulary and master grammatical structures, while enhancing your conversational abilities, and deepening your cultural knowledge of all things Norwegian.
You will get to practice conversations in class which will put your grammatical structures to the test, all the while building on your listening, and speaking skills. A greater focus will be given to pronunciation, Norwegian structure, tone, and flow. There will also be weekly at-home assignments focusing on reading, writing, and grammar. By the course’s end, you should be able to conduct simple conversations in Norwegian.
Ideal for:

Those with basic knowledge of, or previous instruction in, Norwegian
Those who wish to strengthen their Norwegian language skills

You will develop:

Greater proficiency in Norwegian
Improved conversational and grammatical skills, as well as improved pronunciation in Norwegian

This hybrid class will be held both in-person and via Zoom; in-person attendance for the first four classes is highly recommended.
Prerequisite: Norwegian I or equivalent; instructions for remote learning will be emailed upon registration. For questions about language levels, please contact Marie-Therese Bjornerud. Tuition is $675 ($607.50 ASF Members); 20 hours total class time.
*There will be no class on Tuesday, October 4.
Required & Recommended Material
Required:
Textbook: PA VEI TEKSTBOK, ELLINGSEN, 2012 – ISBN: 9788202340940
Workbook: PA VEI ARBEIDSBOK, ELLINGSEN, 2012 – ISBN: 9788202343163
Highly Recommended:
Word List: PA VEI Norsk-Engelsk Ordliste, ELLINGSEN, 2012 – ISBN: 9788202372255
CD-set: PA VEI ELEV-CD til tekstbok, ELLINGSEN, 2012 – ISBN: 9788202371869
Also Recommended:
Online exercises (both oral and written) following the textbook
Notebooks for vocabulary as well as notes
Duolingo (Android, Apple) and other language apps to expand vocabulary and support the learning process

The Swedish Theory of Love
2022-10-25 19:00 - 20:00
Join us for a book talk with Henrik Berggren and Lars Trägårdh on their new publication The Swedish Theory of Love, out in August 22 from University of Washington Press! Berggren and Trägårdh will discuss their exploration on how socialist collectivism and individuality co-exist in the Nordic nation, a bestseller in Sweden that has just been released in English translation by Stephen Donovan.
In 2020 Sweden’s response to COVID-19 drew renewed attention to the Nordic nation in a way that put the finger on a seeming paradox. Long celebrated for its commitment to social solidarity, Sweden suddenly emerged as the last country in the West to resist lockdown while defending individual rights and responsibilities. To explain these contradictions, Henrik Berggren and Lars Trägårdh argue that the long-standing view of Sweden’s welfare state as the result of socialist collectivism is flawed. While social values have been and remain strong, they have co-existed with a radical form of individualism. The English edition of the Swedish bestseller Är svensken människa?, The Swedish Theory of Love examines a political culture that stresses individual autonomy on the one hand and trust in the state on the other.
Delving into Swedish philosophy, cultural studies, sociology, literary criticism, and political science, the book moves beyond the perspective of rational social engineering to uncover the moral logic behind Sweden’s welfare state: the notion that human relationships based on dependency and subordination lead to inauthenticity and that equality and autonomy are preconditions for genuine love and affection.
“With a remarkably wide range of sources and richness of argumentation, The Swedish Theory of Love explains the success of “the Swedish model” and its apparent paradox: that Swedes value individualism extremely highly but also exhibit a high degree of dependency on the state” (Lynn Wilkinson, University of Texas at Austin)
This program will take place in-person at Scandinavia House; RSVP required.
About the Authors
Henrik Berggren is a historian, journalist and biographer, and has written extensively on Swedish political culture. In 2010, he published a biography of Olof Palme that has been translated into six languages, and his first novel was published in 2014. His biography Dag Hammarskjöld – Markings of His Life was published in 2016 by Bokförlaget Max Ström and is available in Swedish and English. Berggren obtained his MA in 1986 at the University of California, Berkeley in Modern European History, and completed his Ph.D. at the University of Stockholm 1995 in History. He served as Guest Professor at JWG-university, Frankfurt-am-Main in 1997, and his career in journalism involves several senior positions at Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
Lars Trägårdh is a historian who has mostly lived in the US since 1970, while maintaining his personal and professional ties to Sweden. After many years as entrepreneur and businessman, he returned to academic studies in 1986. He received his Ph.D. in history from UC Berkeley in 1993 after living and carrying out research for several years in both Germany and Sweden. He then took up at position teaching Modern European history at Barnard College, Columbia University, where he remained for ten years. During his years in the U.S., he also served as a guest professor at the University of Linköping, teaching graduate courses, and he also conducted a research project at Södertörn University College, which resulted in the celebrated book – Är svensken människa? Gemenskap och oberoende i det moderna Sverige (2006, pocket 2009, revised and extended edition 2015, German translation 2016) – co-written with Henrik Berggren. In 2010 he returned to Sweden where he now serves as professor oh history and civil society studies at Ersta Sköndal Bräcke University College.

Intermediate Swedish 3
2022-10-26 18:30 - 20:15
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered this fall at Scandinavia House! In this course based on conversation and grammar held as remote learning, students will now deal with finesse and formal language. Instead of expanding our writing, we will focus on condensing. Discussions will span traditions, Vikings and lore, unwritten societal norms, leadership, work and family structures as well as poetry.
At the end of the semester, students will know:

Transitive and intratransitive verbs
Emphatic rewriting
Clause abbreviation

Students will be able to:

Discuss poetry and literary writings and have an understanding about Swedish norms in society and at work.

Prerequisite: Swedish Intermediate 2 or equivalent. This course will take place remotely via Zoom; instructions for remote learning will be emailed upon registration. For questions about language levels, please contact Malin Tybahl. Tuition $695 ($625.50 ASF Members); 21 hours total class time.
**There will be no class on November 2 or November 23 (Thanksgiving)**

Erna at War
2022-10-26 19:00 - 21:00
“A compelling story of courage and maternal love” (Cineuropa) — See the moving Danish WWI drama Erna at War (dir. Henrik Ruben Genz, Denmark/Estonia/Belgium, 2020) at Scandinavia House!
In 1918, as World War I rages on and able-bodied Southern Jutlandic men under Prussian rule are conscripted into the German army, Erna Jensen (Trine Dyrholm) tends to her quiet life and her developmentally disabled son Kalle in the village of Bramstrup. But when Kalle is summoned for military service, Erna will do everything she can in order to protect her boy — dressing in a German uniform to sneak her way into the barracks, where she comes under the protection of an interested field sergeant. Soon, however, Erna and her regiment are sent off in stock cars for the trenches, where it isn’t only the enemy Erna must face, but her encounters with fellow soldiers. With Anton, the blacksmith from Jels (Anders W. Berthelsen), Erna is challenged on several fronts: as a self-sacrificing mother, as a soldier on an equal footing, and as a woman for good or ill. Based on the critically acclaimed novel by Erling Jepsen, Erna at War tells an unusual and fateful tale from a dramatic time in Danish history, of South Jutland patriotism, and of an indomitable woman’s motherly love and determined drive. (100 min. In Danish & German with English subtitles)

Special thanks to the Danish Film Institute.
About the Director
Director Henrik Ruben Genz, born in 1959, originally comes from Gram in Southern Jutland. In 1995 he completed his education at The National Film School of Denmark’s fiction directing program, and ever since has added a long list of feature films, tv-series, and documentaries to his filmography. In 1998 he was nominated for an Oscar and won the Crystal Bear in Berlin for his short film Theis & Nico. Henrik’s debut feature film was the Robert Award-nominated children’s film Someone Like Hodder (2003), an adaptation of Bjarne Reuter’s novel.
Significant projects that followed include the films Terribly Happy (2008), which earned the four Bodil Awards, seven Robert Awards and the Drejer Award of the Year; Chinaman (2005); Excuse Me (2012), Satisfaction 1720 (2016), Word of God (2017); and popular TV series such as “Nikolaj og Julie” (2002), “Forsvar” (2003), “Better Times” (2004), “The Killing” (2007), “Lulu & Leon” (2009), “Borgen” (2003), and “Bankerot” (2014).
Protocols
This screening will take place in Victor Borge Hall; attendees are required to follow all Scandinavia House safety protocols, including wearing masks during the program and observing social distancing rules in signage. Please read our full safety protocols here. ASF is committed to providing an environment free from harassment or discrimination in the treatment of individuals and does not permit harassment or discrimination in any forms (whether racial, sexual, religious, orientation or others) within our building. Any visitors who do not abide by these policies will be required to leave. Read our our Non-Discrimination Policy here.

Danish Colonialism and Embodied Memory
2022-10-27 19:00 - 20:30
St. Croix artist La Vaughn Belle has explored the Danish colonial history of the Virgin Islands through sculpture, photography, video, painting, collage, and site-specific works. In today’s conversation with moderator Erica L. Johnson (Professor of English, Pace University), she explains the role of the body in her work, and how bodies bear memories that are often discarded by formal histories.
The event will take place in-person at Scandinavia House. Registration is required; please sign up at the link above.
About La Vaughn Belle
La Vaughn Belle is a multidisciplinary artist from the Virgin Islands. For years her work has responded to questions surrounding the coloniality of the Virgin Islands, both in its present relationship to the U.S. and its past one to Denmark. Her work borrows from elements of architecture, literature, history, archeology and social protest to create narratives that challenge the colonial process. She is best known for her work reinterpreting the material artifacts of colonialism to create an alternative archive.
She has exhibited her work in such institutions as the Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, El Museo del Barrio, NY, Arts of the Americas Museum, Washington, DC., the Royal Library of Denmark and the Centro de Wilfredo Lam, Cuba.
About Erica Johnson
Erica L. Johnson is a Professor of English at Pace University. Her scholarly fields include Caribbean literature and cultural memory studies, and she is the author of Cultural Memory, Memorials, and Reparative Writing, Caribbean Ghostwriting, and Home, Maison, Casa.
She has co-edited a number of volumes including Wide Sargasso Sea at 50 with Elaine Savory, Memory as Colonial Capital with Éloïse Brezault, and with Patricia Moran The Female Face of Shame and Jean Rhys: Twenty-First-Century Approaches.

Want a Dog!
2022-10-28 09:30 - 10:30, 2022-10-28 10:45 - 11:30, 2022-10-29 12:00 - 13:00, 2022-10-29 14:00 - 15:30
This October, see a dancing puppet show about our love for canine companionship from Dockteatern Tittut! Playful paws, kisses from a wet nose, soft cuddy fur…having a friend who wags their tail every time they see you…Want a Dog! is about how much we can long like crazy for a dog. Featuring performer Tobias Ulfvebrand with a dreadlocked puppet dog friend (designed by puppetmaker Lisa Kjellgren), this warm and playful show selected in 2020 for Bibu — The Performing Arts Biennial for Children & Young People integrates choreography, musicality and design to interact with and speak to its audience.
Performances will take place at 9:30 and 10:45 AM on Friday, October 28 and 12 and 2 PM on Saturday, October 29 (approximately 35 minutes). Appropriate for children ages 1-6; RSVP required.
“Ulfvebrand’s captivating music and dance floats between classic ballet in waltz style and ’70s groove…the final scene is a real show stopper” (Dagens Nyheter)
About the Production
Idea & direction: Sophia Segrell
Music & choreography: Tobias Ulfvebrand
Puppets, objects & set design: Lisa Kjellgren Almstig
Sound design: Hugo Therkelson
Performer: Tobias Ulfvebrand
Founded in 1977, Dockteatern Tittut is a primarily touring theater company with a theater based in Stockholm, Sweden. They have performed more than 12,000 shows for more than 1 million viewers. Their performances strive for clarity, simplicity, warmth, happiness and familiarity, aiming to meet their young audiences with love and respect for an unforgettable experience.

Beginner Swedish 1
2022-10-28 19:20 - 21:00
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered this fall at Scandinavia House! In this course held both in-person and as remote learning for those completely new to Swedish, students will learn the very basics of Swedish structure and pronunciation while also discussing cultural aspects of Swedish life.
At the end of the semester, students will know:

Structuring statements and questions
Greeting people

Numbers and how to tell time
Students will be able to:

Talk about themselves and how they spend their days.

No prerequisites required. This course will take place in a hybrid format offered in-person at Scandinavia House and via Zoom; instructions for remote learning will be emailed upon registration. For questions about language levels, please contact Malin Tybahl. Tuition is $499 ($449.10 ASF Members); 15 hours total class time.
**There will be no class on October 10 (Columbus Day) or October 31 (Halloween)**

Royal Copenhagen and Bing & Grøndahl Ceramics — Through the Eyes of a Collector
2022-10-29 13:00 - 14:00
Founded in 1775, Royal Copenhagen remains one the oldest porcelain manufacturers still in operation today. Throughout its long history, the factory has experienced numerous highs from the major World’s Fairs and lows from multiple wars and has weathered more than 130 years of competition from the Bing & Grøndahl Porcelain Factory. After 1882, the two factories were located less than a mile apart, with their flagship stores remaining next-door neighbors until their eventual merger in 1987.
In today’s lecture, Dr. Elliot Todd, a second-generation collector of Royal Copenhagen and Bing & Grøndahl porcelain, stoneware and faience, will review the history and wide array of works produced by both firms from their inception to their eventual merger, along with their many technical and artistic successes.
Topics covered will include the time-honored blue mussel pattern along with other 18th-century pieces; production during Denmark’s 19th-century “Golden Age”; unique and production underglaze works from the Art Nouveau period, which revolutionized porcelain production throughout Europe; crystalline, craquelé, overglaze, and contemporary porcelain; as well as stoneware and art faience.
This program will take place in-person at Scandinavia House. RSVP is required; please register at the link above.
About Elliot Todd
Dr. Elliot Todd‘s father Frederick (1920-2001) purchased his first piece of Danish porcelain in 1947 — a Royal Copenhagen figurine, chosen as a wedding gift for a friend. Born in 1957 into a home filled with Danish porcelain, Elliot soon became fascinated with his father’s collection, and spent many hours perusing the numerous books and magazines that he had acquired over the years, most of which were in Danish. His father would often share stories about where he found this or that piece as well as the proverbial “one that got away.”
His father’s passion eventually became contagious, and Elliot now has actively sought pieces over the last 40 years to further expand and round out this two-generation collection of porcelain, stoneware, and faience, all of which has been exhaustively researched and documented though the factory’s archives in Denmark. Professionally, Elliot recently retired as Professor Emeritus from a leading American university where he was an internationally recognized researcher and educator.
