Culture of Sweden
Encyclopedia
Swedish
culture has been described as Lutheranism
, trade union
ism, and self-reliance
, aspects that have been associated with Swedish mentality.
Sweden did not formally abolish slavery until the middle of the 14th century, but it did not have serfdom in the Middle Ages; peasant freeholders constituted about 40% of the population, and were one of four estates (together with nobles, clergy, and burghers) in the Diet
.
after World War II.
or Norway
), etc. They have different indigenous dialects of North Germanic, and some have ethnic minorities
. For more information about these cultural regions, see the provinces' articles:
drinkers in the world, second only to natives of Finland. Brewed coffee is predominant. For meals, cider
, beer
, milk
, juice
, or water
is standard. Swedish cider is sweeter and fruitier than foreign ciders, and is enjoyed in almost as large quantities as beer is. However, the consumption of alcohol is less than in many other European countries, owing to the state monopoly on alcoholic beverages, except at restaurants and bars.
and Victor Sjöström
, who brought international attention to Swedish filmmaking and its particular vision of the world.
Ingmar Bergman
, regarded as one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th Century, emerged as a prominent figure in world cinema during the 1950s, with his existential epic The Seventh Seal
, which he followed with a host of critically revered psychological dramas. Two of his films in particular, Persona
and Cries and Whispers
, received unparalleled critical adoration, and put Sweden on the map as one of the most progressive cinematic entities. The revered naturalist Jan Troell, as well as the socially conscious Bo Widerberg, would quickly follow Bergman as the country's foremost visual artists.
Famous actresses and actors include Ingrid Bergman
, Greta Garbo
, Max von Sydow
, Alexander Skarsgård
, Stellan Skarsgård
, Ingrid Thulin
, Lena Olin
, Dolph Lundgren
and Peter Stormare
.
Two of the world's leading songwriters, Jörgen Elofsson
and Max Martin
, live in Sweden.
In popular music, the group ABBA
became the essence of Swedish music during the 1970s and early 1980s. Later Roxette
emerged, mostly performing joyful songs in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This band was also successful in the USA. Europe
, Ace of Base
and The Cardigans
are Swedish pop groups that have been popular internationally.
Pop star Britney Spears
had at least one of her early albums produced in Sweden, as did Bon Jovi
and the Backstreet Boys
.
Pop promo director Jonas Åkerlund
is from Sweden. He is perhaps best known for The Prodigy
's Smack My Bitch Up
video.
Indie pop/rock is very big in Sweden. Gothenburg
especially has spawned a great number of prominent bands and artists, thanks to labels such as Sincerely Yours
, Service
, and Luxury. Notable Swedish indie bands and artists include Jens Lekman
, The Knife
, Love Is All
, The Concretes
, Broder Daniel
, The Tough Alliance
, Peter, Bjorn and John, Fever Ray, Popsicle
, Studio
, The Embassy
, The Honeydrips
, Brainpool
, Air France
, jj
, Joel Alme
, Pacific!
, etc.
In contrast with its large pop music scene, Sweden also boasts one of the most prolific death metal
scenes in the world. Gothenburg
is famed in the scene for the "melodic death metal
" sound. Many of these bands such as In Flames
, Dark Tranquillity
, At the Gates
, The Haunted
, as well as Stockholm's Amon Amarth
and Opeth
have seen growing commercial success throughout Europe and the United States. Melodic death metal is quite a broad genre with many variations, but with its more obvious roots in traditional death metal, black metal
and classic metal
such as Iron Maiden
. Still, many bands are influenced by genres as broad as Swedish folk music
, alternative music, electronica
, gothic music, progressive music
and even neo-classical music. Sweden is known in the extreme metal community for its famous late 80s-early 90s death metal scene, spawning important bands such as Entombed
, Dismember, Grave and Unleashed as well as more obscure, brutal bands as God Macabre, Obscurity, Treblinka (later Tiamat
) and Grotesque. Highly influential band Bathory also had a huge impact on the then-to-come black metal scene of Norway and the 1990s, with albums Bathory
(1984), The Return (1985), and Under the Sign of the Black Mark (1987), as well as being the first Viking metal
band.
There is a notable Swedish hip hop
scene. This culture has spawned a new sociolect or dialect, Rinkeby Swedish
, so named after the Rinkeby
suburb).
Sweden has produced several notable opera singers. In the 1850s, Jenny Lind
(a.k.a. the Swedish Nightingale) toured the United States, and the price of admission for her performances was at a rate never before seen. In the 1950s, Jussi Björling
was one of few non-Italian opera singers, and he is to this day a household name in opera circles.
Other Swedish bands and artists who seem to manage the international crowd better than others are Dungen
, José González
, Mando Diao
, The Sounds
, The Hives
, Neverstore
, Sahara Hotnights
, Robyn
, Tages, The Mascots, The Shanes
, etc. However, there are a lot of other bands and artists who dominate the national music scene, such as Kent
, Håkan Hellström
and Lars Winnerbäck
.
is vibrant and active. Sweden jointly ranks fifth in the list of countries with most Nobel Prize
laureates in literature
. Famous Swedish writers and poets are Astrid Lindgren
, Selma Lagerlöf
, August Strindberg
, Hjalmar Söderberg
, Tomas Tranströmer
, Karin Boye
, Stieg Larsson
, Henning Mankell
, etc.
Before the 13th century, most buildings were made of brick
. Around that time, a shift began towards stone. The early Swedish stone buildings are Romanesque
churches on the countryside. Many of them were built in Scania
, and are thus stylistically like Danish churches. This includes the magnificent Lund Cathedral
from the 11th century, and the somewhat younger church in Dalby
, but also many early Gothic churches built through the influence of the Hanseatic League
, such as in Ystad
, Malmö
and Helsingborg
.
Cathedral
s in other parts of Sweden were also built as seats of Sweden's bishops. The Skara Cathedral
is of bricks from the 14th century, and the Uppsala Cathedral
in the 15th. In 1230, the foundations of the Linköping
Cathedral were laid; the material used was limestone
, and the building took some 250 years to finish.
Older Iron Age and medieval structures also include some significant fortresses, and other historical buildings such as Borgholm Castle
, Eketorp
fortress (both on Öland
) and the Visby
city wall.
In the 1520s, Sweden emerged from the Middle Age
s and once again asserted her independence under King Gustav Vasa. The king initiated a building program of grand mansions and fortresses, both for defense and to represent the new monarchy; much of this was continued by his sons in the latter half of the century. The more imposing ones include the castles of Kalmar
, Gripsholm
and Vadstena
.
In the next two centuries, Sweden was the site of Baroque architecture
and later the rococo
. Notable projects from that time include the city Karlskrona
, which has been declared a World Heritage Site, the Drottningholm Palace
, and Stockholm Palace
, still the official seat of the monarchy.
s are sometimes worn on special occasions, such as Midsummer
.
(operating as H&M), J. Lindeberg (operating as JL), Gina Tricot, Tiger of Sweden
, Acne Jeans
, and Filippa K
within its borders. These companies, however, are made up largely of buyers who import fashionable goods from places throughout Europe and the Americas, continuing the trend of Swedish business toward multinational economic dependency, like many of Sweden's neighbours.
A new breed of smaller Swedish
fashion
labels like Diana Orving, So Last Season, Odd molly
, WESC
, Whyred, Hope
, Nakkna
, Velour
, Carin Wester, Ida Sjöstedt, Unwind Clothing, Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair
, Acne
, Cheap Monday
, Nudie Jeans
, and The Local Firm are emerging and getting recognition.
s, altar pieces, and baptismal founts. The motifs represent religious beliefs, focused on purgatory
, the devil
, Jesus Christ, and the Virgin Mary.
In the 19th century, the painter Carl Larsson
(1853–1919) shaped the image of the idyllic countryside home with his naïve picturesque illustrations.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
culture has been described as Lutheranism
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
, trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
ism, and self-reliance
Self-Reliance
Self-Reliance is an essay written by American Transcendentalist philosopher and essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson. It contains the most thorough statement of one of Emerson's repeating themes, the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, and follow his or her own instincts...
, aspects that have been associated with Swedish mentality.
Sweden did not formally abolish slavery until the middle of the 14th century, but it did not have serfdom in the Middle Ages; peasant freeholders constituted about 40% of the population, and were one of four estates (together with nobles, clergy, and burghers) in the Diet
Riksdag of the Estates
The Riksdag of the Estates , was the name used for the Estates of the Swedish realm when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to the King...
.
Foreign influences on Sweden
The greatest sources of influence on Swedish culture have been Denmark, Norway and England in the early Middle Ages; Germany during the high and late Middle Ages; an influx of a foreign aristocracy during the 17th century; France during the 18th century; Germany again between the mid 19th and 20th century; and then the English-speaking worldEnglish-speaking world
The English-speaking world consists of those countries or regions that use the English language to one degree or another. For more information, please see:Lists:* List of countries by English-speaking population...
after World War II.
Regions
The 25 provinces (landskap) of Sweden, which early in their histories had poor intercommunication, each have a distinct culture. The provinces long ago lost their importance as administrative and political regions, but are still seen as cultural ones, and the population of Sweden identifies with them. Each province has a specific history, each with its own robust nature. Some of them constituted separated parts of Sweden with their own laws. Other regions have been independent, or a part of another country, such as (DenmarkDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
or Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
), etc. They have different indigenous dialects of North Germanic, and some have ethnic minorities
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
. For more information about these cultural regions, see the provinces' articles:
Food
Swedish food has traditionally been practical and sustaining. A typical old-fashioned meal consists of boiled potatoes, some kind of meat or fish, a sauce, and some vegetables. Fish has historically been very important. Swedes are among the heaviest coffeeCoffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
drinkers in the world, second only to natives of Finland. Brewed coffee is predominant. For meals, cider
Cider
Cider or cyder is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from apple juice. Cider varies in alcohol content from 2% abv to 8.5% abv or more in traditional English ciders. In some regions, such as Germany and America, cider may be termed "apple wine"...
, beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
, milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
, juice
Juice
Juice is the liquid that is naturally contained in fruit or vegetable tissue.Juice is prepared by mechanically squeezing or macerating fruit or vegetable flesh without the application of heat or solvents. For example, orange juice is the liquid extract of the fruit of the orange tree...
, or water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
is standard. Swedish cider is sweeter and fruitier than foreign ciders, and is enjoyed in almost as large quantities as beer is. However, the consumption of alcohol is less than in many other European countries, owing to the state monopoly on alcoholic beverages, except at restaurants and bars.
Film
The Swedish cinema is one of the most widely-known national film industries in the world. The silent period saw the flourish of the gifted visionaries Mauritz StillerMauritz Stiller
Mauritz Stiller was a Finnish-Swedish actor, screenwriter and silent film director, who was mostly active in Sweden.-Life:...
and Victor Sjöström
Victor Sjöström
Victor Sjöström was a Swedish actor, screenwriter, and film director.- Biography:Born in Silbodal, in the Värmland region of Sweden, he was only a year old when his father, Olof Adolf Sjöström, moved the family to Brooklyn, New York. His mother died when he was seven years old in 1886...
, who brought international attention to Swedish filmmaking and its particular vision of the world.
Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...
, regarded as one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th Century, emerged as a prominent figure in world cinema during the 1950s, with his existential epic The Seventh Seal
The Seventh Seal
The Seventh Seal is a 1957 Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set during the Black Death, it tells of the journey of a medieval knight and a game of chess he plays with the personification of Death , who has come to take his life. Bergman developed the film from his own play...
, which he followed with a host of critically revered psychological dramas. Two of his films in particular, Persona
Persona (film)
Persona is a film by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, released in 1966, and starring Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann. Bergman held this film to be one of his most important; in his book Images, he writes: "Today I feel that in Persona—and later in Cries and Whispers—I had gone as far as I could go...
and Cries and Whispers
Cries and Whispers
Cries and Whispers is a 1972 Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Harriet Andersson, Kari Sylwan, Ingrid Thulin and Liv Ullmann. The film is set on a mansion at the end of the 19th century and is about two sisters who watch over their third sister on her deathbed, torn...
, received unparalleled critical adoration, and put Sweden on the map as one of the most progressive cinematic entities. The revered naturalist Jan Troell, as well as the socially conscious Bo Widerberg, would quickly follow Bergman as the country's foremost visual artists.
Famous actresses and actors include Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films. She won three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, and the Tony Award for Best Actress. She is ranked as the fourth greatest female star of American cinema of all time by the American Film Institute...
, Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
, Max von Sydow
Max von Sydow
Max von Sydow is a Swedish actor. He has also held French citizenship since 2002. He has starred in many films and had supporting roles in dozens more...
, Alexander Skarsgård
Alexander Skarsgård
Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård is a Swedish actor. He is best known for his roles as vampire Eric Northman on the HBO series True Blood, Meekus in Zoolander and Brad Colbert in the HBO miniseries Generation Kill.-Early life:...
, Stellan Skarsgård
Stellan Skarsgård
Stellan John Skarsgård is a Swedish actor, known internationally for his film roles in Angels & Demons, Breaking the Waves, The Hunt for Red October, Ronin, Good Will Hunting, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist,...
, Ingrid Thulin
Ingrid Thulin
Ingrid Lilian Thulin was a Swedish film actress.-Biography:Thulin was born in Sollefteå, Ångermanland, northern Sweden, the daughter of Nanna and Adam Thulin, a fisherman...
, Lena Olin
Lena Olin
Lena Maria Jonna Olin is a Swedish actress.-Early life:Olin was born the youngest of three children, in Stockholm, Sweden. She is the daughter of actress Britta Holmberg and the director Stig Olin...
, Dolph Lundgren
Dolph Lundgren
Dolph Lundgren is a Swedish actor, director, and martial artist. He belongs to a generation of film actors who epitomise the movie action hero stereotype including Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme.A graduate in chemical...
and Peter Stormare
Peter Stormare
is a Swedish film, stage, voice and television actor as well as a theatrical director, playwright and musician.- Early life :...
.
Music
Singing is popular in Sweden, and of its 9 million inhabitants, 600,000 belong to various choirs. (http://www.sweden.se/templates/cs/FactSheet____11973.aspx)Two of the world's leading songwriters, Jörgen Elofsson
Jörgen Elofsson
Jörgen Kjell Elofsson is a Swedish songwriter who has written or co-written hits for stars such as Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, Guy Sebastian, Ana Johnsson, Marie Serneholt, Shayne Ward and Super Junior. He has also written hit singles for groups such as Il Divo and Westlife...
and Max Martin
Max Martin
Martin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...
, live in Sweden.
In popular music, the group ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
became the essence of Swedish music during the 1970s and early 1980s. Later Roxette
Roxette
Roxette are a Swedish pop music duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle . Formed in 1986, the duo became an international act from the late 1980s, when they released their breakthrough album Look Sharp!...
emerged, mostly performing joyful songs in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This band was also successful in the USA. Europe
Europe (band)
Europe is a Swedish rock band formed in Upplands Väsby in 1979 under the name Force by vocalist Joey Tempest, guitarist John Norum and drummer Tony Reno. Although widely associated with glam metal, the band's sound incorporates heavy metal and hard rock elements...
, Ace of Base
Ace of Base
Ace of Base is a pop band based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Its original lineup consisted of Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg, and three siblings, Jonas "Joker" Berggren, Malin "Linn" Berggren and Jenny Berggren...
and The Cardigans
The Cardigans
The Cardigans are a Swedish rock band formed in the town of Jönköping in October 1992.Their debut album Emmerdale gave them a solid base in their home country and enjoyed some success abroad, especially in Japan. It was not until their second album Life that an international reputation was secured...
are Swedish pop groups that have been popular internationally.
Pop star Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
had at least one of her early albums produced in Sweden, as did Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...
and the Backstreet Boys
Backstreet Boys
The Backstreet Boys are an American vocal group, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993. The band originally consisted of A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson. They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys...
.
Pop promo director Jonas Åkerlund
Jonas Åkerlund
Jonas Åkerlund is a Swedish film and music video director, and drummer. He is best known for directing music videos, which are often mock forms of movie trailers and short films...
is from Sweden. He is perhaps best known for The Prodigy
The Prodigy
The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and other acts, The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s...
's Smack My Bitch Up
Smack My Bitch Up
"Smack My Bitch Up" is a song by The Prodigy, released as the band's twelfth single on 17 November 1997. It was the third and final single from the album The Fat of the Land....
video.
Indie pop/rock is very big in Sweden. Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
especially has spawned a great number of prominent bands and artists, thanks to labels such as Sincerely Yours
Sincerely Yours (record label)
Sincerely Yours is a Gothenburg based independent record label formed in 2005 by the Swedish electronic pop duo The Tough Alliance. The duo created the record label after they left their former label Service...
, Service
Service (record label)
Service is an independent record label formed in Gothenburg, Sweden in December 2001. The label's first release was Studio's "The End of Fame".In May 2008 Service launched a new music subscription model called Service Coop.-Bands and artists :...
, and Luxury. Notable Swedish indie bands and artists include Jens Lekman
Jens Lekman
Jens Martin Lekman is a Swedish musician. His music is guitar-based pop with heavy use of samples and strings, with lyrics that are often witty, romantic, and melancholic. The English lyrics reflect an advanced knowledge of the language and its idioms...
, The Knife
The Knife
The Knife are a Swedish electronic music duo from Gothenburg, formed in 1999. The group consists of siblings Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer, who together also run their own record company, Rabid Records. They first received international attention after their song "Heartbeats", covered by...
, Love Is All
Love is All
Love Is All is a five-piece indie pop band from Gothenburg, Sweden. It releases songs in English. Paste Magazine has stated that it makes "infectiously lo-fi punk rock laced with saxophone and melodic vocals".-Biography:...
, The Concretes
The Concretes
The Concretes are a popular Swedish indie pop band from Stockholm, currently composed of eight members.-History:The Concretes began with Victoria Bergsman, Maria Eriksson, and Lisa Milberg. Since their formation in 1995, they have gradually acquired new members, growing into an eight piece band...
, Broder Daniel
Broder Daniel
Broder Daniel was an alternative rock band from Gothenburg, Sweden. They formed in the late 1980s and then consisted of classmates Henrik Berggren and Daniel Gilbert...
, The Tough Alliance
The Tough Alliance
The Tough Alliance, or TTA, was an electronic pop music duo from Gothenburg, Sweden. The duo first came together in 2003 and consists of childhood friends Henning Fürst and Eric Berglund...
, Peter, Bjorn and John, Fever Ray, Popsicle
Popsicle
Popsicle is the most popular brand of ice pop in the United States and Canada. The first ice pop was created by accident in 1905 when 11-year-old Frank Epperson left a cup of soda on his porch in cold weather overnight. The next morning he went to go get the soda and it was frozen, so he put two...
, Studio
Studio
A studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or the catchall term for an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, radio or television...
, The Embassy
The Embassy
The Embassy may refer to:* The Embassy , a professional wrestling faction in Ring of Honor.* World Professional Darts Championship, a championship previously referred to as The Embassy.* The Embassy, a Swedish music group....
, The Honeydrips
The Honeydrips
The Honeydrips was Mikael Carlsson’s electronic pop music solo project.The electropop band is under the Swedish label Sincerely Yours, run by The Tough Alliance. Here Comes the Future came out in 2007 and received an 8.4 on Pitchfork Media...
, Brainpool
Brainpool
Brainpool may refer to:* Brainpool , a German television production company located in Cologne* Brainpool , a Swedish pop group...
, Air France
Air France
Air France , stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, , and is one of the world's largest airlines. It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance...
, jj
JJ
JJ may refer to:* TAM Airlines , a Brazilian airline whose IATA code is JJ* Brassiere cup size, JJ in the UK* Johnson and Johnson, a large US company, owner of the domain JJ.com...
, Joel Alme
Joel Alme
Joel Alme is a pop singer from Gothenburg, Sweden. Alme released his debut album A Master of Ceremonies on April 22, 2008 with "Queen's Corner" being the single. In 2010 he released his second studio album called Waiting for the Bells...
, Pacific!
Pacific!
Pacific is a Swedish musical duo from Gothenburg consisting of Daniel Högberg and Björn Synneby playing electro.-Singles:*Break Your Social System *Sunset Blvd *Hot Lips *Number One *Narcissus...
, etc.
In contrast with its large pop music scene, Sweden also boasts one of the most prolific death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
scenes in the world. Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
is famed in the scene for the "melodic death metal
Melodic death metal
Melodic death metal is a heavy metal music style that combines elements from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with elements of death metal. The style was developed during the early and mid-1990s, primarily in England and Scandinavia...
" sound. Many of these bands such as In Flames
In Flames
In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. Since the band's inception in 1993, they have released ten studio albums and one live DVD...
, Dark Tranquillity
Dark Tranquillity
Dark Tranquillity is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Gothenburg. They are one of the longest-standing bands from the original Gothenburg metal scene, and are one of the most integral pioneers of the melodic death metal genre of music....
, At the Gates
At the Gates
At the Gates is an extreme metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden, and a major progenitor of the Gothenburg death-metal sound. Their early albums lean towards a death metal sound, but later albums sound more like melodic death metal.Initially active from 1990 to 1996, the band reformed in 2007 for a...
, The Haunted
The Haunted
The Haunted is a Swedish metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1996.The original members were Anders & Jonas Björler, Peter Dolving, Adrian Erlandsson and Patrik Jensen...
, as well as Stockholm's Amon Amarth
Amon Amarth
Amon Amarth is a Swedish viking metal band from Tumba, Sweden founded in 1992, and takes its name from the Sindarin translation of Mount Doom, a location in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. The band comprises vocalist Johan Hegg, guitarists Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg, bassist Ted Lundström...
and Opeth
Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Though the group has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force throughout the years...
have seen growing commercial success throughout Europe and the United States. Melodic death metal is quite a broad genre with many variations, but with its more obvious roots in traditional death metal, black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
and classic metal
Classic metal
Traditional heavy metal, also known as classic metal or simply heavy metal, is the seminal genre of heavy metal music before the genre "evolved and splintered into many different styles and subgenres."- Terminology:...
such as Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
. Still, many bands are influenced by genres as broad as Swedish folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, alternative music, electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
, gothic music, progressive music
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
and even neo-classical music. Sweden is known in the extreme metal community for its famous late 80s-early 90s death metal scene, spawning important bands such as Entombed
Entombed (band)
Entombed is a Swedish death metal band which formed in 1987 under the name of Nihilist. Though Entombed began their career as an early pioneer of Scandinavian death metal which initially differed itself from its American counterpart with its distinct guitar tone, by the early 1990s their sound had...
, Dismember, Grave and Unleashed as well as more obscure, brutal bands as God Macabre, Obscurity, Treblinka (later Tiamat
Tiamat (band)
-Biography:Initially, the band played straightforward black metal under the name Treblinka. After having recorded the album Sumerian Cry in 1989, vocalist/guitarist Johan Edlund and bassist Jörgen Thullberg parted ways with the other two founding members, and subsequently changed the name to Tiamat...
) and Grotesque. Highly influential band Bathory also had a huge impact on the then-to-come black metal scene of Norway and the 1990s, with albums Bathory
Bathory (album)
Bathory is the debut album of the Swedish band Bathory. It is considered one of the first recorded examples that defined the black metal style....
(1984), The Return (1985), and Under the Sign of the Black Mark (1987), as well as being the first Viking metal
Viking metal
Viking metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its galloping pace, keyboard-rich anthemic sound, bleakness and dramatic emphasis on lyrical themes of Norse mythology, Norse paganism, and the Viking Age...
band.
There is a notable Swedish hip hop
Swedish hip hop
Emerging in the first half of the 1980s, Swedish hip hop was first heard from the cities of Stockholm and Malmö. In the early days, most rappers in Sweden rapped in English. Funkalics and The Latin Kings, two very different acts united by their innovative use of the Swedish language, debuted a...
scene. This culture has spawned a new sociolect or dialect, Rinkeby Swedish
Rinkeby Swedish
Rinkeby Swedish is any of a number of varieties of Swedish spoken mainly in suburbs with a high proportion of immigrants and immigrant descendants, which emerged as a linguistic phenomenon in the 1980s. Rinkeby in Stockholm is one such suburb, but the term Rinkeby Swedish may sometimes be used for...
, so named after the Rinkeby
Rinkeby
Rinkeby is a district in Rinkeby-Kista borough, Stockholm, Sweden. Rinkeby had 15,051 inhabitants as at December 31, 2007.Rinkeby is noted for its high concentration of immigrants and people with immigrant ancestry...
suburb).
Sweden has produced several notable opera singers. In the 1850s, Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind
Johanna Maria Lind , better known as Jenny Lind, was a Swedish opera singer, often known as the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she is known for her performances in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and for an extraordinarily...
(a.k.a. the Swedish Nightingale) toured the United States, and the price of admission for her performances was at a rate never before seen. In the 1950s, Jussi Björling
Jussi Björling
Johan Jonatan "Jussi" Björling was a Swedish tenor. One of the leading operatic singers of the 20th Century, Björling appeared frequently at the Royal Opera House in London, La Scala in Milan, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York City as well as at other major European opera...
was one of few non-Italian opera singers, and he is to this day a household name in opera circles.
Other Swedish bands and artists who seem to manage the international crowd better than others are Dungen
Dungen
Dungen is a Swedish rock band based in Stockholm. Often classified as progg or psychedelic rock, Dungen is also influenced by Swedish folk music, classic rock, progressive rock, garage rock and alternative rock....
, José González
José González
José González is a Swedish-Argentine indie folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from Gothenburg, Sweden.González is also a member of Swedish band Junip, along with Elias Araya and Tobias Winterkorn.- Biography :...
, Mando Diao
Mando Diao
Mando Diao is an alternative rock band from Borlänge, Sweden. The band got their breakthrough with the release of the album Hurricane Bar. Their main fan base is in Sweden, Germany, and Japan although their influence has recently spread to Western Europe, most notably the UK.-Origin:The roots of...
, The Sounds
The Sounds
The Sounds are a Swedish Indie Rock band. Formed in Helsingborg in 1999, the group's musical style has been compared to New Wave acts such as Blondie, The Cars, the Epoxies and Missing Persons....
, The Hives
The Hives
The Hives are a Swedish garage rock band that first garnered attention in the early 2000s as a prominent group of the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the "greatest hits" album Your New Favourite Band, featuring their most well-known song "Hate to Say I Told...
, Neverstore
Neverstore
Neverstore is a Swedish Pop punk/rock band. The band was formed in 2000 in Skövde.Neverstore released their first album, Sevenhundred Sundays January 24, 2007. The song So Much of Not Enough was included on the album...
, Sahara Hotnights
Sahara Hotnights
Sahara Hotnights is a rock band from Robertsfors, Sweden. Their style incorporates elements of garage rock, power pop and punk. While in Australia, Josephine Forsman bet on a horse named Sahara Hotnights and used the name for the band.-History:...
, Robyn
Robyn
Robin Miriam Carlsson , better known by her stage name Robyn, is a Swedish recording artist, singer, and songwriter. Robyn became known in the late nineties for her worldwide dance-pop hit "Do You Know " from her debut album Robyn Is Here . She co-wrote the song "Du gör mig hel igen" for...
, Tages, The Mascots, The Shanes
The Shanes
The Shanes were a Swedish rock and roll band active from 1963 to 1969.The group played in a variety of British- and American-influenced styles, including R&B, Merseybeat, psychedelia, and instrumental pop. They were very successful in their home country, landing a string of top ten hit singles,...
, etc. However, there are a lot of other bands and artists who dominate the national music scene, such as Kent
Kent (band)
Kent is a Swedish alternative rock band founded in Eskilstuna in 1990, with the name Coca-Cola Kids, later Jones & Giftet , and Havsänglar...
, Håkan Hellström
Håkan Hellström
Håkan Hellström is a Swedish musician. He got his Swedish breakthrough in the year 2000 with the song "Känn ingen sorg för mig Göteborg"...
and Lars Winnerbäck
Lars Winnerbäck
Lars Mattias Winnerbäck , is a Swedish singer and songwriter. He was born in Stockholm, but spent his childhood in Linköping, where he attended Katedralskolan. He moved back to Stockholm in 1996, the same year he released his first album, Dans med svåra steg...
.
Literature
Swedish literatureSwedish literature
Swedish literature refers to literature written in the Swedish language or by writers from Sweden.The first literary text from Sweden is the Rök Runestone, carved during the Viking Age circa 800 AD. With the conversion of the land to Christianity around 1100 AD, Sweden entered the Middle Ages,...
is vibrant and active. Sweden jointly ranks fifth in the list of countries with most Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
laureates in literature
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
. Famous Swedish writers and poets are Astrid Lindgren
Astrid Lindgren
Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren , 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish author and screenwriter who is the world's 25th most translated author and has sold roughly 145 million copies worldwide...
, Selma Lagerlöf
Selma Lagerlöf
Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf was a Swedish author. She was the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, and most widely known for her children's book Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige ....
, August Strindberg
August Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...
, Hjalmar Söderberg
Hjalmar Söderberg
Hjalmar Emil Fredrik Söderberg was a Swedish novelist, playwright, poet and journalist. His works often deal with melancholy and lovelorn characters, and offer a rich portrayal of contemporary Stockholm through the eyes of the flaneur...
, Tomas Tranströmer
Tomas Tranströmer
Tomas Gösta Tranströmer is a Swedish writer, poet and translator, whose poetry has been translated into over 60 languages. Tranströmer is acclaimed as one of the most important Scandinavian writers since the Second World War...
, Karin Boye
Karin Boye
was a Swedish poet and novelist.- Career :Boye was born in Gothenburg , Sweden and moved with her family to Stockholm in 1909. She studied at Uppsala University from 1921 to 1926 and debuted in 1922 with a collection of poems, "Clouds"...
, Stieg Larsson
Stieg Larsson
Karl Stig-Erland Larsson , who wrote professionally as Stieg Larsson, was a Swedish journalist and writer, born in Skelleftehamn outside Skellefteå. He is best known for writing the "Millennium series" of crime novels, which were published posthumously...
, Henning Mankell
Henning Mankell
Henning Mankell is a Swedish crime writer, children's author, leftist activist and dramatist, best known for a series of mystery novels starring his most famous creation, Inspector Kurt Wallander.-Life and career:...
, etc.
Architecture
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
. Around that time, a shift began towards stone. The early Swedish stone buildings are Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
churches on the countryside. Many of them were built in Scania
Scania
Scania is the southernmost of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden, constituting a peninsula on the southern tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, and some adjacent islands. The modern administrative subdivision Skåne County is almost, but not totally, congruent with the...
, and are thus stylistically like Danish churches. This includes the magnificent Lund Cathedral
Lund Cathedral
The Lund Cathedral is the Lutheran cathedral in Lund, Scania, Sweden. It is the seat of the bishop of Lund of the Church of Sweden.- History :...
from the 11th century, and the somewhat younger church in Dalby
Dalby
Dalby is a Scandinavian place name meaning "valley settlement", during the Viking Age, the name was brought to England and it later also became an English surname...
, but also many early Gothic churches built through the influence of the Hanseatic League
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
, such as in Ystad
Ystad
Ystad is a "locality", or town, and the seat of Ystad Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden, with 17,286 inhabitants .Settlement dates back to the 11th century and the town has become a busy ferryport, local administrative centre and tourist attraction...
, Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
and Helsingborg
Helsingborg
Helsingborg is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 97,122 inhabitants in 2010. Helsingborg is the centre of an area in the Øresund region of about 320,000 inhabitants in north-west Scania, and is Sweden's closest point to Denmark, with the Danish city...
.
Cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
s in other parts of Sweden were also built as seats of Sweden's bishops. The Skara Cathedral
Skara Cathedral
Skara Cathedral is a church in the Swedish city of Skara. The cathedral is the seat for the bishop of the Church of Sweden Diocese of Skara....
is of bricks from the 14th century, and the Uppsala Cathedral
Uppsala Cathedral
Uppsala Cathedral is a cathedral located centrally in the city of Uppsala, Sweden. It dates back to the late 13th century and at a height of 118.7 m is the tallest church building in Scandinavia. Originally built under Roman Catholicism and used for coronations of the Swedish monarch, since the...
in the 15th. In 1230, the foundations of the Linköping
Linköping
Linköping is a city in southern middle Sweden, with 104 232 inhabitants in 2010. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality with 146 736 inhabitants and the capital of Östergötland County...
Cathedral were laid; the material used was limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, and the building took some 250 years to finish.
Older Iron Age and medieval structures also include some significant fortresses, and other historical buildings such as Borgholm Castle
Borgholm Castle
Borgholm Castle in Borgholm, Sweden, is today only a ruin of the fortress that was first built in the second half of the 12th century and many times rebuilt in later centuries. It is linked to Halltorps estate, somewhat to the south...
, Eketorp
Eketorp
Eketorp is an Iron Age fort in southeastern Öland, Sweden, which was extensively reconstructed and enlarged in the Middle Ages. Throughout the ages the fortification has served a variety of somewhat differing uses: from defensive ringfort, to medieval safe haven and thence a cavalry garrison...
fortress (both on Öland
Öland
' is the second largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area of 1,342 km² and is located in the Baltic Sea just off the coast of Småland. The island has 25,000 inhabitants, but during Swedish Midsummer it is visited by up to 500,000 people...
) and the Visby
Visby
-See also:* Battle of Visby* Gotland University College* List of governors of Gotland County-External links:* - Visby*...
city wall.
In the 1520s, Sweden emerged from the Middle Age
Middle age
Middle age is the period of age beyond young adulthood but before the onset of old age. Various attempts have been made to define this age, which is around the third quarter of the average life span of human beings....
s and once again asserted her independence under King Gustav Vasa. The king initiated a building program of grand mansions and fortresses, both for defense and to represent the new monarchy; much of this was continued by his sons in the latter half of the century. The more imposing ones include the castles of Kalmar
Kalmar
Kalmar is a city in Småland in the south-east of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 62,767 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of 233,776 inhabitants .From the thirteenth to the...
, Gripsholm
Gripsholm Castle
Gripsholm Castle is a castle in Mariefred, Södermanland, in Sweden and is regarded as one of Sweden's finest historical monuments. It is located by lake Mälaren in south central Sweden, in the municipality of Strängnäs, about 60 km west of Stockholm....
and Vadstena
Vadstena
Vadstena is a locality and the seat of Vadstena Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden, with 5,612 inhabitants in 2005. From 1974 to 1979 Vadstena was administered as part of Motala Municipality....
.
In the next two centuries, Sweden was the site of Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
and later the rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
. Notable projects from that time include the city Karlskrona
Karlskrona
Karlskrona is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with 35,212 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to Sweden's only remaining naval base and the headquarters of the...
, which has been declared a World Heritage Site, the Drottningholm Palace
Drottningholm Palace
The Drottningholm Palace is the private residence of the Swedish royal family. It is located in Drottningholm. It is built on the island Lovön , and is one of Sweden's Royal Palaces. It was originally built in the late 16th century. It served as a residence of the Swedish royal court for most of...
, and Stockholm Palace
Stockholm Palace
The Stockholm Palace is the official residence and major royal palace of the Swedish monarch. . Stockholm Palace is located on Stadsholmen , in Gamla Stan in the capital, Stockholm...
, still the official seat of the monarchy.
Clothing
Modern clothing is very internationally influenced, but traditional Swedish national costumeNational costume
Folk costume expresses an identity through costume which usually to a geographic area or a period of time in history, but can also indicate social, marital and/or religious status...
s are sometimes worn on special occasions, such as Midsummer
Midsummer
Midsummer may simply refer to the period of time centered upon the summer solstice, but more often refers to specific European celebrations that accompany the actual solstice, or that take place on a day between June 21 and June 24, and the preceding evening. The exact dates vary between different...
.
Fashion
Sweden has in recent years taken an interest in the fashion industry, headquartering famous brands like Hennes & MauritzH&M
H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB is a Swedish retail-clothing company, known for its fast-fashion clothing offerings for women, men, teenagers and children....
(operating as H&M), J. Lindeberg (operating as JL), Gina Tricot, Tiger of Sweden
Tiger of Sweden
Tiger of Sweden was founded 1903 in the Swedish town Uddevalla, by the tailors Markus Schwarmann and Hjalmar Nordström. It is a classical brand of men's wear. Tiger of Sweden began, during the 1990s, to develop suits attractive to the young and trendy inner-city crowd.Its line of products include...
, Acne Jeans
Acne Jeans
Acne Studios is part of the creative collective Acne which was founded in Stockholm, Sweden in 1996. In 1997, co-founder Jonny Johansson created one hundred pairs of jeans in raw denim with red stitching and gave them away to friends and family in Stockholm. This became the foundation of the...
, and Filippa K
Filippa K
Filippa K, is a Swedish clothing company. Founded in 1993 by Filippa Knutsson, Filippa K has grown to be one of Sweden's leading fashion brands....
within its borders. These companies, however, are made up largely of buyers who import fashionable goods from places throughout Europe and the Americas, continuing the trend of Swedish business toward multinational economic dependency, like many of Sweden's neighbours.
A new breed of smaller Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
fashion
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
labels like Diana Orving, So Last Season, Odd molly
Odd Molly
Odd Molly is a brand owned by the company Odd Molly International AB and was founded 25 March in 2002.Their main production is in clothing and accessories, but new product categories are planned such as sunglasses and optical lenses...
, WESC
WESC
WeSC , or We as it is casually known, is a Swedish clothing brand, based mainly on skateboarding influences and style. Founded in 1999, it has quickly become one of Sweden's most popular brands, within Sweden as well as internationally...
, Whyred, Hope
Hope
Hope is the emotional state which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. It is the "feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best" or the act of "look[ing] forward to with desire and reasonable confidence" or...
, Nakkna
Nakkna
Nakkna is a Swedish fashion label based in Stockholm, Sweden.Founded in 2003. Nakkna is known for its avant-garde, yet commercial, designs where complex constructions and draping are manifested in clean shapes without unnecessary embellishment. Nakkna is sold in fashion stores through Europe and...
, Velour
Velour
Velour or velours is a plush, knitted fabric or textile. It is usually made from cotton but can also be made from synthetic materials such as polyester. Velour is used in a wide variety of applications, including clothing and upholstery....
, Carin Wester, Ida Sjöstedt, Unwind Clothing, Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair
Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair
Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair is a Swedish fashion label founded in 2004 by Astrid Olsson and Lee Cotter. In January 2009 the label received the "Designer of the Year" at the Swedish Elle Style Awards....
, Acne
Acne
Acne is a general term used for acneiform eruptions. It is usually used as a synonym for acne vulgaris, but may also refer to:*Acne aestivalis*Acne conglobata*Acne cosmetica*Acne fulminans*Acne keloidalis nuchae*Acne mechanica...
, Cheap Monday
Cheap Monday
Cheap Monday is a Swedish clothing label. It was founded in 2000 by Örjan Andersson and Adam Friberg, originally as a second-hand clothing store, in a suburb of Stockholm. The clothes started selling at March 10, 2004, and from the beginning in only one store called Weekday. The name of the brand...
, Nudie Jeans
Nudie Jeans
Nudie Jeans is a Swedish premium clothing brand originating in Gothenburg and a subsidiary of Svenska Jeans AB, founded in 1999 by Maria Erixsson, a former employee and AD of Lee Europe and Swedish designer JC. As of 2003, the company had 12 employees, revenue of 93 million Swedish kronor and a...
, and The Local Firm are emerging and getting recognition.
Arts
The oldest remains of Swedish art are found in the churches: frescoFresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
s, altar pieces, and baptismal founts. The motifs represent religious beliefs, focused on purgatory
Purgatory
Purgatory is the condition or process of purification or temporary punishment in which, it is believed, the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for Heaven...
, the devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
, Jesus Christ, and the Virgin Mary.
In the 19th century, the painter Carl Larsson
Carl Larsson
Carl Larsson was a Swedish painter and interior designer, representative of the Arts and Crafts Movement. His many paintings include oils, watercolors, and frescoes...
(1853–1919) shaped the image of the idyllic countryside home with his naïve picturesque illustrations.
External links
- Sweden at geographia.com