Magazinesweden issue no 5 2018

SWEDENS

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No 5 • 2018

MAGAZINE ON TOURISM & LEISURE

JOHN KLUGE

“The Artistic Tenor” on stage in Sweden and the USA

MAGAZINE SWEDEN

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Kulturen in Lund Kulturen in Lund is a museum spanning two adjoining sites in the heart of Lund. Step into the houses and experience life from the Middle Ages to the 1930s. We also have around twenty exhibitions for you to enjoy, on subjects ranging from folk art to modern design, from mediaeval history to the present day and from local to global culture.

Kulturen in Lund | www.kulturen.com/english

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Content

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Issue No 5 • 2018

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Photo: Bengt Wanselius

JOHN KLUGE

INGMAR BERGMAN

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Photo: Justin Alexander

This year he would have been 100 years old.

Read all about his work, thoughts and often stormy private life.

‘The Artistic Tenor’, success with both a microphone and an easel.

WEDDING FAIR

Photo: Press photo/Getty Images

Ann-Christin Widinghoff hosts her fair for the nineteenth time, at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm.

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DENISE RUDBERG

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She has sold millions of copies and now her first book about Sweden’s high society, is being published in English.

ABBA The Swedish icons are making a digital comeback and releasing two new singles in 2019.

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KIDS DAYS OUT Loads of tips and ideas for cool days out with the family, during the winter.

MAGAZINE SWEDEN

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Editorial

Sweden is waiting for you We are fast heading towards the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, days are so dark and dismal it seems. But there is also a certain cosiness about being holed up in the warmth as the coming storms rage outside and rain lashes the windowpane.

Maybe there’s a comfy chair next to a roaring fireplace (hopefully a copy of MagazineSweden to hand), a hotpot bubbling in the oven, remnants of Christmas tinsel and left-overs. New Year’s resolutions have been made to lose weight and exercise and get out with the kids and basically do more with one’s life! The usual start to every new year.

So, we have put together a handy guide to days out for all the family with interesting museums, exhibitions and things to do, plus a guide to Sweden’s shopping havens, all of which should give you loads of inspiration to get out and about and do more.

Culture, music, theatre, shopping and celebrations, Sweden is waiting for you.

2019 is an exciting year for ABBA fans with the release of two new songs from the Swedish seventy’s sensation bound to create plenty of noise and glitter throughout Sweden and the whole world. Our cover story puts the spotlight on John Kluge’s many talents as an entertainer and his newly discovered artistic abilities.

Get hot under the collar, reading Denise Rudberg’s racy novel about Swedish high society, which is now available in English.

And Ingmar Bergman fans will not want to miss the article summing up his 100th birthday. We take an in depth look at the life

Jenny Nyström

and times of this great Swedish film director, whose dedication to film making and theatre has helped put Sweden on the map in Hollywood.

Welcome to 2019, a year of doing more!

ILLUSTRATOR AND PIONEER 26 OKT 2018 - 17 FEB 2019

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MAGAZINE SWEDEN

Nicola Green

DECEMBER 2018 / JANUARY 2019 Postal/visiting address: Grindsgatan 27, 118 57 Stockholm Web: magazinesweden.com E-mail: info@magazinesweden.com

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welcome to sweden's most famous home!

CARL LARSSON-GÅRDEN IN SUNDBORN IS AN ICON IN SWEDISH INTERIOR DESIGN AND FAMILY LIFE.

EDITOR & PUBLISHER: Marie Tillman ENGLISH EDITOR: Nicola Green LAYOUT: Tony Manieri WEB: Daniel Sander ADMINISTRATION: Charlotte Lindmark CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Tony Manieri (TM), Marie Tillman (MT), Nicola Green, Charlotte Lindmark (CL), Anna Ekberg (AE) COVER: John Kluge PHOTO: Fredrik Strömberg

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Noteworthy

”What bothers you the most?”

At the Silver Museum, don’t miss this magnificent Sami silver collar. Photo: Silvermuseet

Silvermuseet in Arjeplog At Hornavans beach in Arjeplog you’ll find Silvermuseet (The Silver Museum). What at first glance looks like a large old-fashioned wooden house is actually a spacious museum spread over three floors. Get acquainted with almost 10,000 years of human activity in the area that is today called Arjeplog, everything from hunters and fishermen to small farmers and reindeer herders.

So why is it called The Silver Museum then?

Part of the name can be attributed to the “silver rush” that characterized the district after the silver mine was established in Nasafjäll. Another reason is that The Silver Museum houses the world’s largest collection of Sami silver and in the blue vault under the main building, there’s a real trea-

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MAGAZINE SWEDEN

sure chest of all that sparkles. Here you will find jewellery, brooches and belts and several silver dress collars, a traditional Sami costume.

In the past there was much human activity in this area, but today it is sparsely populated. A few years ago, a painting of iron age character was found at one of Arjeplog’s many mountain lakes.

This has inspired a new exhibition for 2018: Avtryck (Impressions). This is a complement to the museum’s other exhibitions Spår (Tracks), Ur Nature (Ancient Nature), Silversalen (Silver Hall), Mujtalalus (Sami for: Ancient Memory) and Bofasta (Residents). CL www.silvermuseet.se

This is possibly one of the world’s most anticipated books, written by one of the world’s most famous women.

The book’s title ‘Becoming’ surely refers to her life journey and the fact that throughout her life she has always been striving to become something; a lawyer, the first lady - and who knows - maybe even the next American president? Many people, especially republicans, oppose that scenario because she does not ‘know anything’ about leading a country – add to that, the world’s largest democratic country. But eight years in the White House cannot have done her any harm and husband Barrack Obama would be at her side if advice was needed. Her many years as a lawyer mean is very used to negotiating and she is definitely one determined lady.

She has been honoured as the most powerful woman in the world, whilst at the same time been seen as an ‘angry black woman’.

In the book, she considers what bothers people the most: Is it that she is angry, black or female?

Becoming by Michelle Obama is thoroughly interesting, familiar, heartrending and totally entertaining. TM www.forum.se

Noteworthy Cecily Brown at Louisiana museum Cecily Brown (born 1969) is British, but has lived in New York for the past 20 years. An exhibition at Louisiana, is currently showing her work from 1997 through to the present day. It is the first major European museum exhibition of Cecily Brown’s work for several years and runs until 10th March 2019.

The show gives an overview of Brown’s creativity over the last 25 years. In the first room, we have a retrospective of the subjects and pictorial strategies, shown through 20 monotypes, all from 2018.

The exhibition shows 35 paintings of all sizes, 80 drawings and monotypes, as well as a selection of some source-images from her studio archives.

WHERE, WHEN, HOW OFTEN AND WITH WHOM

The exhibition’s title refers to the 10-meter-long triptych from 2017 - Where, When, How Often and with Whom - which is being shown publicly for the first time. The title suggests a theme that encapsulates a place, a time and a relationship among the people.

In an interview for Louisiana Magasin, Cecily Brown. “Couple”. Photo: Robert McKeever. the artist has explained how a stone found on the beach at Louisiana has coloured the work, while press photos from ongoing global conflicts have provided material for it.

Brown enjoys working with current issues, including the dissolution of traditional gender roles, the politicizing of everyday life and the restless erotic energy of the day. A comment the artist made about the earliest work in the exhibition, Untitled (1997), was “Good and evil can exist at the same time and in the same place. Even little rabbits may be gang-banged in a beautiful idyllic landscape on a day with drifting clouds and sunshine.”

Where, When, How Often and with Whom is showing 8th November 2018 – 10th March Big Theatrics from Usher in Berlin. Right: Richard Söderberg. Photo: Folkoperan 2019. TM

Horror-opera on European Tour The House of Usher’s doom has its premiere in Sweden on 14th February 2019, a psychological thriller about friendship, paranoia and destructive family ties. The Opera is based on Edgar Allan Poes’s novel.

Folkoperan’s stage will see Rickard Söderberg play the Doctor, Ola Eliasson play Roderick Usher, Alexandra Büchel play Madeline Usher and Olle Persson play the Friend. The opera was started by Claude Debussy but has been completed by the Belgian composer Annelies van Parys, whose favorite writer is said to be none other than Edgar Allan Poe. Poe has been called the forefather of the science fiction genre.

The work is commissioned by and a co-produced by Staatsoper unter den Linden in Berlin and Folkoperan. The original premiere took

place at Staatsoper unter den Linden in Berlin on 12th October this year. The production will continue its tour on to Belgium, Holland and France.

The stage is set in a dilapidated house that brings to mind images of creepy horror films from the 1980s. We are invited in to an orchestrated chamber play in a house which is cloaked in a curse. Siblings Madeline and Roderick live here completely isolated, the last surviving members of the once powerful Usher family.

Paralysed by an unexplained horror, they fight for their survival. But what is this horror so fearful and why will it not release its grip and leave the House of Usher? AE

www.louisiana.dk

Happening 2019 From 8th June to 7th July it’s The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019, being held in France. “Go Sweden!” hollers Magazine Sweden. Maybe you’ll cheer for Thailand!

Or Brazil! Or Jamaica!

Or England! Or any of the 24 teams that qualified, but we know who’s side we are on!

www.folkoperan.se MAGAZINE SWEDEN

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Photo: Adobe Stock

Noteworthy Happening 2019 Celebrities celebrating big this year: 30 YEARS: Taylor Swift, Daniel Radcliffe, Gareth Bale and Daniel Ricciardo.

40 YEARS: Heath Ledger, Claire Danes, Pink, Chris Pratt, Kate Hudson and Kourtney Kardashian.

50 YEARS: Jennifer Lopez, Jay-Z, Jennifer Aniston, Gwen Stefani and Jack Black.

60 YEARS: Emma Thompson, Simon Cowell, Magic Johnson, Michael Kors and John McEnroe.

70 YEARS: Gene Simmons, Meryl Streep, Bruce Springsteen, Richard Gere and Ivana Trump.

Durian smells like death, but the taste is amazing. A little bit like surströmming ...

The world’s first museum for disgusting food opens in Malmö How about a little rotten shark?

Anyone? You can see and smell just that, if you visit the Disgusting Food Museum in Malmö. The exhibition gets its world premiere in Malmö, with the next stop of its world tour in Los Angeles. The Disgusting Food Museum is already garnering a lot of attention in the world press, including the New York Times, Washington Post and the Lonely Planet.

The museum offers up unique dishes from all over the world; like the Icelandic delicacy rotten shark, there is also roasted guinea pig from Peru and the rotten cheese ‘casu marche’ from Sardinia, which is crawling with live maggots, all offer a great taste and smell experience.

Even the Asian fruit durian is on show, a fruit which smells so bad that it is forbidden to eat on public transport in Singapore.

The idea of this ​​ unique museum comes from researcher Samuel West, who has previously opened a museum for failed products, the Museum

of Failure in Helsingborg.

– With a museum for food is easier to make a big impression, you can’t smell an object, but when you get a sniff of a rotten shark you wish you’d ever been born, says Samuel West to the Independent.

The museum is described as interactive and you can both see and smell the dishes. Several of the dishes have to be stored in glass containers to reduce the smell and the dishes are replaced every other day to keep them fresh, which is quite expensive.

– I thought it would be easy, but it was a quick decision to use real food, as it’s more fun to look at than a plastic copy of a fruit or dish.

That’s why it became expensive, but it’s really great fun.

The Disgusting Food Museum is open at Slagthuset MMX in Malmö until the end of January. TM www.disgustingfoodmuseum.com

Happening 2019 England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will leave the EU taking Gibraltar with them.

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MAGAZINE SWEDEN

Linnaeus’s home and gardens Less than an hour from Stockholm and only twenty minutes from Arlanda, in the university town of Uppsala, you find the home and gardens of Carl Linnaeus. As you step into the beautiful baroque gardens of the world famous botanist and physician you leave the city’s pulse behind.

More than a thousand species of Swedish and foreign vegetables, wild flowers, trees and medicinal plants are arranged according to Linnaeus’s classification system, first published in 1735. Recognized as the “Father of Taxonomy”, Linnaeus also invited the binomial system of naming organisms that we still use today.

In Linnaeus’s home you will experience the a unique 18th century atmosphere. You can admire hand-painted linen wallcoverings, furniture, collections of china and textiles. This is where the family entertained friends, where his five children grew up, and where Linnaeus wrote scientific papers as well as letters to friends and colleagues. He observed, reflected and followed seasonal changes in the garden, which can be seen as his early biology laboratory. Welcome to the Linnaeus Garden and Museum! AE www.linnaeus.uu.se

Noteworthy

Photo: Åke E:son Lindman

Skissernas Museum

From Fritz Langs film ‘Woman in the Moon’ from 1929. Photo: Horst von Harbou /Deutsche Kinemathek

The Moon – from the inner world to outer space This autumn’s main exhibition at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, occupying the entire southern wing of the museum puts The Moon at the forefront. It’s an exhibition where science meets folklore, fiction meets facts, existential meaning meets economic expansion, from the inner world to outer space. The exhibition, consisting of more than 200 pieces of work, provides a multi-faceted portrait of the earths only natural satellite through art, film, music, literature, culturally historic objects, design, architecture, science and astronomy.

The exhibition is curated by the museum’s Marie Laurberg, who in recent years has studied the moon’s influence on art and culture – from its romance to contemporary art - and has developed the exhibition in dialogue with a number of institutions in different fields.

The moon is the only celestial body whose surface can be seen with the naked eye from the earth and it has fascinated artists and writers for centuries. The glimmering white disc has been the source for many myths, performances and dreams.

We see ourselves when we look up into space the moon becomes a reflection of humanity.

The exhibition is a mix of art, culture and natural history with an emphasis on the search for recognition, something that art shares with other cultural spheres.

Through six different stages, the exhibition shows how developments in the modern western world have affected our ideas about the moon.

Both unreachable and yet so close, the moon is our gateway to a larger universe. It is just a couple of day trips away from the earth, close enough for the patterns on its surface to have been observed for centuries, by people from all over the world. At the same time, the moon teases us as to the great infinity that opens out into the darkness behind, the cosmos, notions that exceed our human understanding. Perhaps that’s why such mystery around the moon makes it a fundamental symbol in our culture.

On the one hand, it is the symbol of romance – on the other hand, it is a natural first stop for a space mission. The moon is an important icon, where outer space and the inner world meet.

The moon landing by Apollo 11, the first manned craft that landed on the moon, celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2019 and therefore, naturally forms part of this interesting exhibition.

The exhibition takes place until 20th January and will then be moved to the Henie Onstad Art Centre in Oslo. TM

Skissernas Museum - Museum of Artistic Process and Public Art is a unique art museum focusing on the artistic creative process in Lund. It is the world’s largest collection of sketches, models and originals of Swedish and international public art.

The large exhibition halls contain modern and contemporary art - from small pencil sketches to colourful monumental paintings and large-scale plaster sculptures. There are the sketches of international artists such as Henri Matisse, Sonia Delaunay, Henry Moore and Fernand Leger and one of Europe’s foremost collections of sketches by significant Mexican painters such as Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros. In the Swedish hall there are works by Sigrid Hjertén, Isaac Grünewald and Siri Derkert and contemporary artists such as Linn Fernström, Gerhard Nordström and Matthias van Arkel.

In addition to the base exhibitions, the museum has alternating temporary exhibitions every year and offers a rich and varied program for children, young people and adults with guided tours, artist talks, lectures, concerts, performances, creative workshops and much more. MT www.skissernasmuseum.se

Happening 2019 ABBA to release 2 new songs, ‘I have faith in you’ and ‘Do not shut me down’ and ABBA’s all new digital avatars will perform on a world tour and participate in a special global TV broadcast. Read more on this later!

www.louisiana.dk

MAGAZINE SWEDEN

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A JUBILEE EXHIBITION AT ÅBE RGS M U S E U M

SUPERMAN 80 YEARS AND MICKEY 90 YEARS

The jubilee exhibition will be displayed until March 31 2019.

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Bergman 100

Ingmar Bergman Ingmar Bergman would have been 100-years-old this year - 2018. The American film maker Woody Allen has on numerous occasions acclaimed Ingmar Bergman to be the greatest film maker of all time. As has David Lynch, Martin Scorsese and Jean-Luc Godard.

But it was not always a dance in the park. Swedes may remember when journalist Stig Ahlgren wrote a scornful critic in Vecko-Journalen after Smiles of a Summer Night had been premiered in 1955: “A pilsner film in a champagne bottle.�

Magazine Sweden takes a closer look at his life; his work, his thoughts and his often-stormy private life.

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MAGAZINE SWEDEN

Bergman 100

‘Who are you?’ ‘I am Death.’ The key scene from Ingmar Bergman’s epic The Seventh Seal. The chess match between Bengt Ekerot (Death) and Max von Sydow (Knight Antonius Block) belongs to one of the most famous moments in film history. It was one of Bergman’s personal favourites. Photo: SF Pressfoto

MAGAZINE SWEDEN

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Bergman 100

Fanny & Alexander, probably Ingmar Bergman’s most loved feature film.

Photo: SF Pressfoto

F

or many, most of Ingmar Bergman’s films are very difficult to understand.

With the exception maybe of Fanny & Alexander, for this last film of his, was probably the most well received. Nobody, that has seen Jan Malmsjö in the role of Bishop Vergérus terrorising his step son Alexander can ever forget it: “Punishment will teach you to love the truth” boomed Vergérus, in one of the films many loaded scenes. The unfortunate consequence being that Alexander would rather love to kick God up the backside. And probably the bishop too.

of love with the strict discipline and punishment of a father on a young imaginative boy - a theme that Bergman used in the film Fanny and Alexander. His relationship with his father remained complicated for many years, according to Bergman. The film Fanny & Alexander also portrayed the boy’s passion for puppet theatre and picture experimentation with his beloved lanterna magica apparatus, (magic lantern). To become an adult, is to lose something, that is the message in Ingmar Bergman’s films. Adults aren’t his role figures. Somewhere inside every adult body, resides a child still.

IN THE BEGINNING

Ingmar Bergman was self-taught, he lacked any formal education of the theatre. He began “In our line of work, it is often true that his theatre career in we are attractive for as long as our masks 1937 as a director of Master Olofsgården’s remain in place. People think that they love theatre activities us, as long as they see us under the veil of in Stockholm’s city our performances and public images. “ mission church hall in Gamla Stan. In 1940, he temporarily became assistant director Ingmar Bergman was born on 14th July 1918 at Operan. During 1941-1942 he ran his own in Uppsala, brother Dag, was four years older amateur theatre group Medborgarteatern, at and then came a younger sister Margareta four Medborgarhuset in Södermalm, putting on a years later. His father Erik served the Hedvig couple of productions. On top of this, he also Eleonora parish, first as a pastor’s instructor and formed Sagoteatern, a theatre group for childhospital pastor at Sophiahemmet and from 1934 ren. It was Sweden’s first real children’s theatre as a church vicar. His mother Karin was a nurgroup and it was taken over by Elsa Olenius sing sister, also at Sophiahemmet in Stockholm. in 1942, ultimately forming the basis of what Bergman’s childhood, growing up in the would become the great Vår Theatre. church, influenced his work and its themes After much time, stubbornly standing and throughout his life. He often talked about the waiting outside the gates of the legendary contradiction between the Christian message

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MAGAZINE SWEDEN

Filmstaden in Solna, hoping to ‘be discovered’, he eventually attracted their attention and in 1940 he finally got the opportunity to start working as a scriptwriter and co-author under Stina Bergman at Swedish Film Industry. After some time, he succeeded in getting their backing to film his very own original manuscript based on his own unpleasant school memories. His debut film became the international award-winning film Torment, released in 1944.

During the making of the film, Bergman was the assistant director/script supervisor for the director Alf Sjöberg. After this success, in 1946, he gained the chance to make his debut as a film director with the film Crisis, based on a play by Leck Fischer. The recording was itself a series of real-life crises for the inexperienced director and the result was deemed a failure.

After this disappointment, he decided to learn everything he could about all elements of film production and undertook many study visits within Filmstaden’s various departments.

BERGMAN’S CAREER GETS GOING

Ingmar Bergman’s love for the theatre was even stronger than his love of film. He directed more than 200 productions for theatre, opera, radio and television. The most important thing for him were the actors – he was prone to cancel without the right cast.

“If there’s one great importance in my theatre, it’s the actors,” he explained to the critic Henrik Sjögren when they looked back at his unprecedented Swedish theatre career.

On 6th April 1944, in the midst of his dawning film career, Bergman aged just 25 years old, was appointed as the youngest director of Helsingborg city’s theatre. When he arrived,

Bergman 100 “It is about time that we set things straight with this spectre, who has created so much fuss. Bergman tells us nothing about ourselves and the lives we ​​lead and nothing of God. He does not even tell us anything about his own insignificance or greatness. He is just an ugly testimony to the terrible decline of the art of film making.”(Ernest Riffe, in Chaplin No. 14, 1960) NB: Ernest Riffe was a pseudonym for - Ingmar Bergman!

he demanded that all the actors be replaced and bought his first hat. “To give the impression of a tenacity that I hardly owned” he writes in his autobiography The Magic Lantern.

After Helsingborg, he moved in 1946 to Gothenburg’s city theatre. He stayed in Gothenburg until 1950, then he held the opening production at the Intiman theatre in Stockholm - with something that was unusual for Bergman - the political Bertolt Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera.

In 1945-46 and again from 1952, he spent most of the 1950’s working as director, dramatist and artistic director at Malmö’s city theatre, a time he later described as the happiest in his life. Malmö’s city theatre gave him ‘a complete free hand’ and he formed a cast with Bibi Andersson, Harriet Andersson, Max von Sydow and many others. They worked closely and intensively, with theatre in the winter and with film in the summer. Bergman produced historical productions of the classics such as Peer Gynt, and Don Juan and developed a humbler directional style.

His attention to detail as a theatre director is highly noticeable. He searched for the original intentions of the playwright, or the play’s ‘essence’ as one critic termed it. When Bergman did Strindberg, he worked it so much, that the drama became even more Strindberg than Strindberg himself, said another.

LIFE AT THE ROYAL DRAMATIC THEATRE

In 1961 Ingmar Bergman returned to the Royal Dramatic Theatre, where he spent most of his time, with some interruptions, until his last production in 2002. From 1963 to 1966 Bergman was the boss at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, here he was responsible for developing the

theatre’s children’s theatre group, but it proved to be a difficult time for the extremely creative Bergman, who was not comfortable being stuck in such an administrative role and it led to a period of ill-health.

Unfortunately, being the boss at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in some ways broke him. He got his own toilet because he developed a nervous stomach. He was forced to retire one off his great masters and predecessors, Olof Molander, which caused horror amongst the other actors. After just three years, he gave up being the boss and concentrated on his art. However, the Royal Dramatic Theatre remained the only place that could compete with his beloved Fårö.

Scenographer Anna Bergman, his daughter, has described his working style as one that demanded the total attention of his colleagues; everyone should be quiet, everyone should have gone to the toilet, no coffee drinking, and no yawning. Anna herself thought he was amazing.

In The Magic Lantern Ingmar Bergman talks about the magic that occurs when an idea is finally realised: “The moment is triumphant, the day has not been in vain, our lives so full of doubt finally have meaning and colour. Everything just turns into love. It was so good! It was so good! “ But it was at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in 1976 that a great upheaval in his life occurred; he was arrested by two police officers on suspicion of tax evasion, right in the middle of a rehearsal. The event attracted enormous attention, not least internationally. Bergman spent a stressful few of months in and out of the courts. All charges were eventually dropped, but he felt so aggrieved both physically and mentally, that on April 22, 1976, he announced that he was going to leave the country. After a somewhat chaotic period and some futile discussions with Hollywood – including the idea of a film depiction of The Merry Widow with Barbra Streisand - he moved to Munich. The city became his place of residence and workplace between 1977-82.

WORLD FAMOUS

After some time in exile overseas, Bergman returned with the award-winning blockbuster film Fanny and Alexander and a series of worldtouring productions at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, starting with Shakespeare’s King Lear (1984). With this comeback, he was transformed from his reputable tough, hard going and aloof image as a director to a popular and more personable ‘national icon’ in the eyes of the audience.

He said that he did not care about popularity or big budgets for his films. His films were often made on a small budget compared to the accelerating costs that a lot of popular bid budget films usually had.

Ingmar Bergman with his partner, the cinematographer Sven Nykvist in Gotland, 1960. Photo: Unknown

Ingmar Bergman and Ingrid Thulin filming The Silence, 1963. Photo: SF Pressfoto

Ingmar Bergman during the production of Smultronstead, 1957. Photo: SF Pressfoto Bergman always worked with theatre and film in parallel to being an author, director and producer. In addition to the stage and films, he also made a large number of productions for Swedish television (Sveriges Television) between 1957-2003. This included Scenes from a Marriage (1973), Face to Face (1976) and The Best Intentions (1992). He made a lot of productions for radio at Sveriges Radio, as well as some well observed operatic productions such as Igor Stravinskij’s The Rake’s Progress (1961) and his own opera with Daniel Börtz, Backanterna (1991; TVfilm 1993) for The Royal Opera. A number of his film scripts, plays and other work have also been published in book form. During this time in Malmö, he even wrote a ballet libretto.

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Bergman 100

Harriet Andersson and Kari Sylwan in Cries and Whispers, 1972. Photo: SF Pressfoto

“Today, I feel that I have come as far as I can with my films Persona and later also with Cries and Whispers. I have had the total freedom to play with unknown secrets that only cinematography can bring forth.”

Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullman in Persona, 1966. Photo: SF Pressfoto RELATIONSHIP TO GOD

Ingmar Bergman’s father Erik was a priest and if one believes what Bergman writes in his autobiography The Magic Lantern, he was constantly subjected to punishment by his father. Therefore, it is easy to understand why Bergman’s portrait of men of the cloth is not always very favourable.

The least favourable, of course, being the portrait of Bishop Vergérus in Bergman’s last feature film Fanny & Alexander. With God as his excuse, the bishop terrorises his stepson Alexander. The idea that God exists and allows

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so much evil, is for Alexander far worse than the idea that God does not exist at all.

In Bergman’s films, it is to God that his characters direct their prayers.

“God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” cries Tomas (Gunnar Björnstrand) in the film Winter Light (1963). Tomas’s image of God has been crushed and worst thing of all is Gods silence. “I have believed in a fair, protective, paternal God, who loved all of humanity, but most of all loved me”, says Tomas.

God is a constant presence in Ingmar Bergman’s films, albeit one of negation. Together

with Through a Glass Darkly (1961) and The Silence (1963), Winter Light constitutes a gravely serious and personal trilogy about faith. But God is not always so serious in Bergman’s films. Take, for example, A Lesson in Love (1954) where there is a joke about God being a woman and that man was created in the middle of a yawn.

Some have thought that there is too much reference to God in Bergman’s films. The director and writer, Bo Widerberg, attacked Bergman in 1962 in an article for Visionen För Svensk Film, saying he was tired of Bergman’s films endlessly asking the question of whether

Bergman 100 there is a God or not. “Bergman should pay more attention to people,” said Widerberg.

LEFT OR RIGHT? THAT IS THE QUESTION …

The portrayal of bourgeois existential anguish during the raging Vietnam war left him out of favour with the 1968 left and the 1976 tax scandal made him leave the country in rage.

But despite his ‘bourgeois anarchism’, Ingmar Bergman remained faithful to both his left-wing beliefs and his country Sweden.

The relationship between the Fårö filmmaker and the 1968 left was probably strained because they saw his bourgeois existential brooding and musings as being self-obsessed. Hour of the Wolf from 1968, about an artist’s nightly anguish was considered especially navel-gazing and self-indulgent - but Bergman responded with Shame in that same year, which he described as a commentary on the Vietnam War. Rather than questioning the war in itself, he was interested in the ‘little wars’, namely the question of what happens to the individual’s morality when civilization breaks down. Some factions of the left, saw the film as a subtle support for the Americans. “Of course, the film is not by order of the White House. But the USA administration’s message is shown more deftly than it could ever have dreamed of ”, wrote the author Sara Lidman.

Another issue for the left was Bergman’s Nazism in his younger days and his sometimes-coquettish attitude that he had to it. “I loved him. For many years I was on Hitler’s side, I was delighted in his successes and mourned his defeat” he wrote in The Magic Lantern. But when the concentration camps opened and the truth was revealed, he realised. “I have been truly stupid,” he said in a radio interview.

Ingmar Bergman’s long relationship with the Social Democrats was vigorously tested when he was arrested in the middle of a rehearsal at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, on charges of tax evasion: “Even though the 1976 Social Democrats, with their tax accusations, tried to kill me, my Social-Democratic conviction is unchanged because I think that it is a typically Swedish, compromised grand gospel”, he said in an interview in 1988.

Despite all the equivocal tributes to the Social Democrats, he may have been most true when he wrote that he “woke up early this morning and realised that my very own bourgeois anarchy suits me best.”

THE WOMEN IN BERGMANS LIFE

There are many women in Ingmar Bergman’s films and they are often cast as the central characters, while the men quite often play the

Three classic Bergman films Smiles of a Summer Night, 1955 CAST: Gunnar Björnstrand, Ulla Jacobsson, Eva Dahlbeck, Naima Wifstrand, Jarl Kulle, Harriet Andersson, Bibi Andersson, Gösta Prüzelius.

PLOT: Smiles of a Summer Night is mainly set in a residence in Skåne around the turn of the century 1900. It follows Egerman, a lawyer and his family and the problems the power of love can bring about. A wellknown scene is one that features Russian roulette. Bergman builds an intelligent and sophisticated comedy, not so different from what Hasse Ekman was doing around the same time. The characters of Smiles of a Summer Night often show cynical attitudes towards love and sexuality, but nevertheless a happy ending is pieced together.

Smiles of a Summer Night was Ingmar Bergman’s great international breakthrough.

OPINION: Morgon-Tidningen (Nils Beyer): “Ingmar Bergman’s new comedy Smiles of a Summer Night is a brilliant skillfully made film. Ingmar Bergman can really write, it shines through in his dialogue, which has increasingly matured and deepened, not least since he has moved onto comedies.

Perhaps his best yet - and without doubt one of the best Swedish films ever made.”

ACCREDITATIONS: Prix de l’Humor Poetique, Cannes 1956. The following year the film was awarded the Danish prize Bodil, for best European film.

The Seventh Seal, 1957 CAST: Max von Sydow, Bengt Ekerot, Bibi Andersson, Nils Poppe, Gunnar Björnstrand PLOT: The Seventh Seal plays out in the mid-13th century during the time of the black death. A Knight, Antonius Block (Max von Sydow) and his squire Jöns (Gunnar Björnstrand), return to Sweden after participating in a crusade to the Holy Land.

The black death is spreading throughout the country and people are living in fear of being infected with the terrible epide-

mic. The knight is plagued by religious broodings and when Death (Bengt Ekerot) appears to take him, he asks him to play a game of chess in a bid to postpone the inevitable.

OPINION: Expressen (Staffan Tjerneld): “The Seventh Seal is not just Ingmar Bergman’s most beautiful film, it also portrays in its artwork, a simple but difficult to grasp beauty. The film is ‘the one’. You will be totally captivated.”

ACCREDITATIONS: Prix Spécial du Jury (Jury’s Special Award), Cannes 1957. Grand Prix du Film d’Avantgarde, Paris 1958.

Fanny & Alexander, 1982 CAST: Pernilla Allwin, Bertil Guve, Jan Malmsjö, Jarl Kulle, Allan Edwall, Harriet Andersson, Ewa Fröling PLOT: Fanny & Alexander is set in Uppsala during 1907-1910 and revolves around the wealthy Ekdahl family, which is dominated by a wealthy and talented widow, Helena (Gunn Wållgren) and her three sons. The eldest son Oscar (Allan Edwall), together with his wife Emelie (Ewa Fröling), run the local and family-owned theatre. The couple have two children: Fanny (Pernilla Allwin) and Alexander (Bertil Guve). After Oscar’s death, Emelie marries Edvard Vergérus (Jan Malmsjö), the local bishop and moves with the children into his spartan and strict home. A whole new life awaits Fanny and Alexander. From living openly and free in a big happy family, they find themselves in the bishop’s house where there are harsh and meticulous rules.

OPINION: Moviezine (Kim Nilsson): Bergman’s maybe most beloved and easily accessible film is a gutsy family drama that is beautiful, scary and interesting. A triumph of a production that is an international and Swedish classic to be enjoyed forever.

ACCREDITATIONS: Nominated for six Oscars in 1983 and won four. Also awarded three Guldbaggar in the same year.

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Bergman 100 films. The long-standing relationship with Liv Ullmann is probably the most famous, but he also had relationships with Bibi Andersson and Harriet Andersson.

Bergman’s relationships resulted in nine children with six different women. His last and longest marriage was with Ingrid Bergman.

They were married for 24 years until her death in 1995. Of course, a woman you cannot forget when talking about Bergman is his mother. Many of his most magnificent female characters have been borrowed from his mother, Karin Bergman.

“If there’s a god, then he’s a crap god who I would like to kick in the ass.”

BERGMAN AND HIS DEMONS

Bergman is sometimes called a demon director, for his explosive moods and his demanding requirements. But he also often talked about his own ‘demons’, the anxiety attacks that shadowed his life and his art.

Alexander expresses his feelings in Ing“They appear very ordinary. A little pale mar Bergman’s last feature film Fanny & and neatly dressed“ said Ingmar Bergman Alexander (1982). Probably this hatred was describing his demons in the SVT documenalso directed at his demonic stepfather, Bishop tary Bergman 100 years: Undisclosed, and he Vergérus (Jan Malmsjö). goes on to give fear and the need to control as two examples. He clearly spells it out, he had struggled for a long time with his ‘demons’, tragicomic subsidiary roles. The woman’s perboth privately and in his artistic endeavours. spective that can be associated with Bergman’s Since the 1950s, he has even adorned his signasignature style has garnered many differing ture with a little devil. opinions. But one thing is certain and that is In his autobiography The Magic Lantern, he that having women play the leading roles has repeatedly returns again and again to his parents only contributed to his success. Ingrid Thulin, and his fickle upbringing, which swung between Eva Dahlbeck, Bibi Andersson, Harriet Anwarmth and violence and sees this as an explanadersson and Liv Ullmann are just some leading tion for his fragile psyche. Often, as in Cries and ladies who Bergman should thank.

Whispers (1972), he showed the adult world as Ingmar Bergman wrote and directed many being incomprehensible and scary. films about the relationship between men and The torments often came at night. In Hour women, but also about the relationship between of the Wolf (1968), he introduces the idea that women and other women. Most well-known is moment just before dawn is when nightmaperhaps in Persona (1966), where an existential res are free to roam. A few years ago, his old drama takes place both internally and between bedside table from Fårö was sold at auction for a breath-taking actress (Liv Ullmann) and her 340,000 Swedish kronor, it was adorned with attendant (Bibi Andersson). night scribbles such as: “Afraid, afraid, afraid, “After Fanny and Alexander, there will be no more feaafraid” and ture films from me. It can’t get more fun than this, nor “Christmas Crap”.

more tough. Fanny and Alexander is like the pinnacle of my entire life as a filmmaker. Making a feature film is a job for young people, both physically and mentally.”

There are also plenty of women in Bergman’s private life. Not only was he married five times, the director also had several long- and short-term relationships, often with women many years younger than himself. Bergman is sometimes described archetypically as a so-called man of culture, that is, a culture of gentleman seeking confirmation in young women.

His most talked about relationships were with the actresses that often appeared in his

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THE ADMIRATION

In Sweden, younger filmmakers were lining up to put down Ingmar Bergman, but internationally he was celebrated by all. One of his biggest contributions to the film world was to point of the camera inwards, towards existential issues and among his many admirers are names like Woody Allen, David Lynch and Martin Scorsese.

Film lovers that grew up during Ingmar Bergman’s hey-day, according to Martin Scorsese, could not fail to be inspired by his work. “You

were forced into a conscious endeavour and even then, his influence was hard to grasp” says Scorsese in the documentary Trespassing Bergman.

Bergman’s biggest contribution to the art of film is above all, his interest in our inner lives.

Paul Schrader wrote that the script for Taxi Driver would have been impossible without the Swede who “probably, more than anyone else tried to make film a medium for the personal and the inward looking.”

Director Jean-Luc Godard praises Bergman for merging beautiful settings with the characters psychology, rather than just showing off with the cinematography. According to Krzysztof Kieslowski, famous for his Three Colours trilogy, Bergman was perhaps the only filmmaker to match authors Fjodor Dostoevsky and Albert Camus in their insights on human nature.

Similar tributes are common within that generation, but the film world’s greatest ‘Bergmaniac’ is probably Woody Allen. It may seem unexpected for the usually cheerful, boisterous Allen, but themes such as disbelief in god, mortality and emotional isolation are some of his favourite subjects to poke fun at - Even Mary (Diane Keaton) in Manhattan brushes aside Bergman as “fashionable pessimism” for young people.

The influence of his introspective gaze is marked by, among other things, all the nods to Persona in other films such as 3 women by Robert Altman, Black Swan by Darren Aronofsky and Mulholland Drive by David Lynch. Many have also parodied his most famous scene, that encounter with death in The Seventh Seal.

In Sweden, many have stepped away from Bergman, especially the 1968 generation, who, under the influence of Bo Widerberg, saw him as being bourgeois and self-absorbed. Younger female filmmakers are also less likely to shower Bergman with praise.

Lars von Trier, on the other hand, had a close personal kinship with Bergman. In the documentary series Bergman’s Video, the Danish director tells of all the letters of tribute he wrote to Bergman in Fårö, all of which went without receiving a single answer. von Trier compares the Swede with his own dad, whom he never talked to either and now that both his father figures are dead, he can bid them a final farewell: “Fuck Bergman.”

DEATH

Why is death a continuous presence in Bergman’s films - either as a conversation topic, an event or a main character? One reason was Bergman’s own fear of death that he finally was able to placate through his filmmaking.

Death is a topic that Ingmar Bergman has focussed on from his very first to last piece of work. It was not only present in his work as a theme, but famously so as an actual character.

The first time Death takes on a human

Bergman 100 Norstedts and Bergman

Raukar on Ingmar Bergman’s beloved Fårö, where he lived for a large part of his adult life. He died in summer 2007 and is buried in Fårö’s Cemetery. Photo: Adobe Stock form is in the unpublished novella En sällsam historia (An Odd Story) that Bergman wrote as a 20-year-old. The novella’s narrator is acquainted with a desperate woman, a drug addicted prostitute and widow with young children, whom he finds dead one day. A neighbour who has seen the supposed murderer, tells the narrator that it was “totally white in appearance” and was wearing a “long black coat”.

The most famous example is, of course, Bengt Ekerot’s character of Death in The Seventh Seal (1957). In order to avoid the black death, a powerful knight (Max von Sydow) challenges Death to a chess game. So, for as long as the game is in progress, the knight stays alive. With his chalk white face, black hood and scythe, Ekerot’s impersonation has become the blueprint for Death.

Bergman’s preoccupation with death was much rooted in his own severe fear of death.

This fear is particularly noticeable in his early films. The Seventh Seal should have softened this horror. Even as an actual event, death is frequent in Bergman’s films - there is plenty of murder, suicide, fatal accidents and deathly diseases. With a few exceptions, it is almost a rule, that someone - usually a main character succumbs to something in his films.

In Bergman’s TV film Saraband (2003), that was also his last, death is a constant topic of conversation, it is partly a threat and partly the solution. Finally, Bergman seems to have made peace with death. “It’s like a candle being blown out,” he said in an interview. “Not so much to be bothered about.”

BERGMANS BELOVED FÅRÖ

Bergman came to Fårö, an island north of Gotland, for the first time in 1960, when he was looking for film location for Through the Glass Darkly (1961). Bergman fell for it immediately and later settled on the island. In total, he

recorded four feature films on Fårö: Through the Glass Darkly, Persona (1966), Shame (1968) and The Passion of Anna (1969).

Bergman lived on Fårö until his death in the summer of 2007 and is buried in Fårö’s cemetery. Bergman Week is a cultural event created in his memory, it tributes Ingmar Bergman’s artistry, with films, guest speakers, seminaries and tours of Fårö and its film locations.

Part of the village Sudersand is called Bergmanbyn of which he is the original creator.

In 1964, he was allowed to build cottages for the actors and film crew to live in during the filming. Bergman handed over the cottages to the island a while later and today it is Sudersand who now owns and manages them.

During 2018, in collaboration with the Ingmar Bergman Foundation, Norstedts Publishers presented six magnificent volumes of a large number of previously unpublished material, thirty-four film stories and a monograph about Ingmar Bergman as a writer.

“Ingmar Bergman’s literary abilities have always been well recognised, but it is only in recent years that Bergman as an author has had a real breakthrough, not least as one of the world’s most talented dramatists,” says Håkan Bravinger, literary director at Norstedts.

“Bergman’s authorship is at the same level as Strindberg and Ibsen, so to celebrate his centenary birthday with the publishing of these forty books is a true honour for us.”

BERGMAN 101

2018 has been a great year for Bergman. He has been thoroughly celebrated, both new old and films and theatrical plays have been shown all over the country - and much of the world.

Even though it has been more ten years since Ingmar Bergman passed away, he is just as popular as ever.

And there’s more: The government has earmarked 8 million Swedish kronor to celebrate Ingmar Bergman 100th birthday next year even though it would really be his 101st birthday. This is because transitional budget issues.

“You have to adhere to the budget rules as far as possible,” says the Ministry of Culture.

The eight million kronor that were allocated to 2018 celebrations of the Swedish filmmaker for his 100th birthday have also been assigned to the celebration in 2019, when it will have been 101 years since he was born.

Talk about Ingmar Bergman being timeless ...

Text: Tony Manieri Sources: TT, Swedish Film Institute, Swedish Film Database, Swedish media

Smiles of a Summer Night was turned into a musical for the stage in the USA, A Little Night Music, by Hugh Wheeler and Stephen Sondheim. The musical premiered in New York February 1973. In January 1974 it had its Swedish premiere at Stora Theatre in Gothenburg and was then performed on several stages in Sweden.

A Little Night Music was made into a film in 1977 in Austria, directed by Harold Prince. Among the cast were Elizabeth Taylor and Len Cariou.

The film was a flop and has never been shown in Sweden.

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Find information on artists, tickets, festival bus Mer more information om artister, biljetter, avgångstider för festivalbussar med mera finns på www.varldsar vsjazzen.se departure times at www.varldsarvsjazzen.se

Musical

Another European premiere comes to Karlstad: The fantastic Broadway success

Something Rotten!

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MAGAZINE SWEDEN

Musical Wermland Opera has a long list of European, Nordic and Swedish premieres to its name.

Over the years, the list of new musicals that the Karlstad based opera and musical venue has put on, just keeps growing and growing.

T

here’s been Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, Sunset Boulevard, Wedding Singer, Spring Awakening, Shrek, Parade and Next to Normal. And now on 8th November 2018 a further title was added to the collection Something Rotten!

During the autumn, the cast of 22 have been busy rehearsing all the music, dance routines and lines of the musical that has taken Broadway and the whole of the United States by storm. Wermland Opera is the first theatre in Europe (actually in the whole world, outside of the United States!) to showcase the story of the Bottom brother’s literary and dramatic battle with Shakespeare. With crazy humour in the spirit of Monty Python, amazing costumes and breakneck dance sequences, director Markus Virta and scenographer Nigel Hook present a musical experience above and beyond the usual.

With a rampant and upbeat tempo, the audience is given an outstanding lesson in how to create a musical success!

Markus Virta, who is celebrated for his direction of As it is in Heaven at Oscars in Stockholm is, together with the Tony Award-winning scenographer Nigel Hook, highly respected at the Wermland Opera for the ability to illustrate and bring forth crazy comedy on the stage.

Calle Norlén’s well timed and accurate translation adds extra spice to the performance, which is both rich in dialogue and music, a resounding tribute (and a display of love too!) to the musical genre and the dramatist Shakespeare!

THE PLOT

We are in London in the 90’s – the 1590’s! Something Rotten is about Nick Bottom (Christer Nerfont) and Nigel Bottom (Tord Hansson) who are struggling hard to make it as playwrights while the handsome, hugely popular ‘mega star’ William Shakespeare (Patrik Martinsson) produces hit after hit. When the local, and not al-

ways so successful oracle Nostradamus predicts that the future of the play lies in one with both song and dance, the Bottom brothers throw themselves into creating the world’s first musical in order to break Shakespeare. The subject of the musical, however, is a little dubious and their musical The Black Death, consequently, is not a major box office success ...

During a subsequent visit to Nostradamus, Nick wants to find out what the title of Shakespeare’s next success will be. The oracle is about to reveal that it is Hamlet, but something goes wrong. Thomas Nostradamus tells him that he sees something called Omelette! He also tells him that he is sure that Shakespeare’s play is about to become the world’s most talked about work! Nick Bottom does not hesitate, he immediately snaps up the idea and writes the musical Omelette!

Text: Anna Ekberg Photo: Mats Bäcker

The cast considers: What kind of a guy was William Shakespeare, anyway?

“If you believe our version, he was probably a bit full of himself. But perhaps that’s perfectly normal when you’re the biggest thing to happen to popular culture, before the Beatles came along.”

Tord Persson, plays Nigel Bottom

“If you look at it from our play, he is the rock star of his time, a self-absorbed one. He is humorous, foolish in a good way and a thief in the eyes of the Bottom brothers. I think much the same as younger Bottom brother Nigel.

But there are many different opinions about how far all this is from the truth.”

“If he really wrote all that he wrote, he must have been extremely enlightened and knowledgeable, both in terms of language ​​and society and the ‘rules of the game’, not least surrounding the court, which was definitely not a generally understood realm. He may not have been the rock star that he is in the musical but he certainly was a great personality.”

Cecilie Nerfont Thorgersen, plays Nick Bottom’s wife Bea

Christer Nerfont, plays Nick Bottom

“Oh, what a difficult question. In Something Rotten, it’s not a documented image of Shakespeare.

More a caricature and maybe even a mockery. There is research showing diametrically different portraits of Shakespeare. On the one hand, as a brilliant author, the greatest throughout history. On the other hand, a charlatan who did not write himself, but had help from other writers.”

Patrik Martinsson, plays William Shakespeare MAGAZINE SWEDEN

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Visit the Greta Garbo Museum in Småland!

Did you know that Greta’s parents and relatives all came from Småland and that there isn’t any other museum in the world about the Swedish film icon? Greta Garbo loved Sweden’s nature, but spent almost all her adult life in the United States, where she starred in several famous Hollywood films.

Visit the Garbo Museum - Guided tours are available and arrangements for groups can be made.

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Entertainment

John Kluge

– a touch of class on the world stage Text: Tony Manieri Photo: Fredrik Strömberg

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MAGAZINE SWEDEN

Entertainment The operatic tenor who comes from a stage and musical background is poised on the starting blocks getting set for his Christmas tour Änglaljus, planning next year’s prestigious performance at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York, releasing his new single ‘Leaving on a High Note’ and a winterlong cruise from Australia to Monaco followed by appearances in Las Vegas. In between all of this, he strives to get time for his latest passion – painting. If there’s anyone who has many irons in the fire, it’s John Kluge.

W

hen MagazineSweden catches up with John Kluge, he is in Los Angeles making contacts for future collaborations and appearances. The evening before he had attended a cocktail party, where he ended up sitting next to Al Pacino.

The new single ‘Leaving on a High Note’ is written by, Alan Rich, amongst others, who has made music for Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, Ray Charles and Natalie Cole, to name a few.

The wheels are definitely John Kluge with Al Pacino. Photo: Private in motion for John Kluge - The Artistic Tenor.

You trained as a tenor at GöteborgsOperan, co-coached by amongst others, Ingvar Wixell and have played the lead roles in the musicals Grease and West Side Story. In recent years you have performed more than 800 concerts, many of them in churches.

– A church is a very beautiful place to hold a concert. The audience often feels a special kind of ease and serenity because of both the venue and the outstanding acoustics. There is a great sense of calm, which adds an extraordinary dimension to the songs and the music, says John.

You get a great feeling of ‘now it’s Christmas’.

You started your own concert company at the age of 23. It sounds like you decided early on what it was you wanted to do.

- Yes, you could say that. I was probably amongst the very first to host Christmas concerts in the country’s churches in Sweden and it was incredibly exciting. I have stuck with this and now we are performing Änglaljus for the twenty-fifth time. This year, I will have some company on the stage in the form of Py Bäckman, Sonja Aldén and Carina E Nilsson, which will be amazing.

- Julottan, which is a traditional church service held early on Christmas morning, always focuses heavily on Swedish Christmas music, and over the years this has proved to be very

much appreciated by the audience. The atmosphere of a church just before Christmas is really wonderful, with candles and torches, misted windows, children handing out pepperkakor (gingerbread biscuits), everyone dressed up in their best clothes - it’s truly a special experience for everyone involved, John continues.

You have also had a long career in the world of finance and therefore have a great deal of knowledge about the business side of things.

- Yes, it is true. It allows me to develop both myself and the company in a more efficient way, especially now that I am establishing new contacts in the United States.

It’s really starting to happen for you in the United States now. Tell us more about what’s going on!

-It’s really exciting. For example, I’ve got a new song called ‘Leaving on a high Note’ written by Alan Rich, which feels amazing. He wrote ‘Run to You’ for the movie ‘The Bodyguard’ with Jud Friedman and which Whitney Houston had a huge hit with.

- And as a result of being able to make so many contacts in showbusiness in the United States, I’ve had the opportunity to appear at the acclaimed Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York next year.

That must be a great feeling. Almost all world-renowned artists have appeared there.

- Yes, I really need to pinch myself. What’s happening to Kluge? I sometimes ask myself.

That concert really opened doors, like nothing else. I am currently commuting between New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles and am constantly building up new relationships. I was born in Kalmar and here I am, just a guy from Småland, having all these big new adventures in big-city America!

- I’m not planning to leave Sweden, but I’ll definitely be more efficient and sharper, when I return home.

Your brand “The Artistic Tenor” has a special meaning. You have discovered painting in recent years.

-Yes, that’s right, says John. It started when I was working on a cruise in 2016 and I signed up for a watercolour course on board. It was not something that I planned, more like an opportunity that presented itself. As a result, I developed a personal style with my watercolour

painting that really impressed the course director Linda Perlmutter.

- I sat in my changing room and started painting for fun and it felt absolutely amazing. I uploaded the pictures on my social media outlets and quite soon all of the pictures were sold.

From here it has evolved and now I spend half of my time painting. Since the start of 2016, I’ve sold over three hundred paintings around the world, so it quickly went from being a newfound hobby to something much more serious.

- Painting is also very meditative. It’s relaxing to paint and I enjoy it a great deal. You get absorbed by the colours and shapes in a way that is unlike anything else. When I have exhibitions, I have noticed that art touches people in a deep way, which often leads to very interesting and stimulating conversations.

Now you have a long tour with Änglaljus ahead of you. What else is going on next year?

- It has just become clear that I will go on a twomonth world cruise with Crystal Cruises Serenity. It Two peas in a pod? John and Dwayne starts in FebJohnson – The Rock. Photo: Private ruary in Perth, Australia, sailing via Mauritius, South Africa and along Africa’s west coast to The Mediterranean Sea finishing in Monte Carlo.

- From there I will go straight to Las Vegas for a concert. So, the spring is full of exciting opportunities to meet the public!

You have also created the Kluge Trust, where young people can apply for masterclass-grants to develop their creative talents.

- Yes, it is something that very much warms my heart. It’s about helping to develop the next generation in the field. It feels good to be able to give back and share all the knowledge and experience I have accumulated over the years.

We will hold masterclasses in art, literature and music and young people between the ages of 15 and 25 can develop and hone their talents.

- It’s with the youth where everything begins. I try to take on my new challenges with a little bit of a child’s curiosity and enthusiasm.

- There are no limits, only possibilities! concludes John Kluge with a laugh.

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Business or pleasure?

BUSINESS AND PLEASURE!

Villa Källhagen is perfectly suited for well-traveled people with high expectations.

You sleep well in comfortable beds, eat well in the classic restaurant or the vivid lobby bar. Staffed around the clock, and food served all days of the week. Villa Källhagen will leave you well rested and rejuvenated for the challenges of tomorrow.

Villa Källhagen, som på landet fast ändå inte.

Easy to get to with walking distance from down town Stockholm, bus right outside the door, easy to get a taxi, and excellent parking possibilities.

Villa Källhagen, unique countryside feel in the city of Stockholm.

Djurgårdsbrunnsvägen 10, 115 27 Stockholm villa@kallhagen.se • +46 (0)8-665 03 00 • kallhagen.se

The home and gardens of Linnaeus

May–September Tues-Sun 11-17 www.linnaeus.uu.se

The Linnaeus Garden with the Linnaeus Museum in Uppsala

GOTHENBURG OPERA PRESENTS

Buy tickets and book a table in GĂśteborgsOperans Restaurang +46 (0)31-13 13 00. www.opera.se goteborgsoperan GOdanskompani

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Health

Sleep better – live better Snoring can be a menace – and not just for the snorer!

Eezyflow is the sleep collar that reduces and can even eliminate the problem. It also works great when traveling, allowing you to get some rest whilst on the move without getting a cricked neck or a dry mouth. Happier travel companions too!

Text: Editorial Photo: Eezyflow

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Health

M

any people snore and it is not only disturbed sleep for the snorer that is a problem but it also causes stress and frustration for the whole family.

Ann-Christine Krook, the inventor of Eezyflow, has lived with snorers since she was ten years old and says that the noise level at times is intolerable.

– Countless nights, I have had to sleep on the sofa or in my kid’s room because my husband was snoring. There have been times, when we have been out in the archipelago holidaying on a boat, when I have had to sleep outside, on land with the dog! Not being able to sleep because someone snores can cause so much frustration.

SEEING A SNORING PATTERN

Being disturbed by snoring relatives for over three decades, Ann-Christine started to see a pattern. She discovered that snoring could be eased by certain sleeping positions, usually by laying on the side or stomach. An idea began to form; what if one could control the sleeping position in a comfortable way.

The product development took a very long time, finding the right design for the sleep collar and finally getting it to a finished product.

Snoring occurs when the tissues in the upper respiratory tract vibrate when breathing.

Eezyflow reduces this vibration and snoring, its effectiveness can depend on an individual’s anatomy, weight, age and habits.

When we fall asleep the muscle of the body relax. In the throat, there is a lot of soft tissue and when the muscles relax, the airways are affected. The walls of the throat relax, the tongue sinks backwards and the soft part of the palate becomes limp. If there is sufficient narrowing of the airways, the tissues begin to vibrate resulting in snoring. The vibrations may occur high up in the nose, in the soft palate or behind the tongue, but usually it is a combination of these. See how heavy it feels to breathe with your head bent forward in the bed instead of backward.

After questioning various doctors and researchers on the subject, Ann-Christine created Eezyflow, a physiologically designed sleep collar, it is a CE marked medical device, manufactured in Sweden and Denmark.

– It’s soft, supportive (shaped by body heat) and adjustable to differing height requirements.

It helps to keep your head slightly stretched backward, tilts your jaw slightly forward and keeps your mouth closed.

Ann-Christine believes that the sleep position created with Eezyflow is similar to the prone side sleeping position and allows for freer airways because the collar holds the head in a similar position to how an anesthetist would

with an unconscious patient: ensuring that the respiratory pathways are kept open by bending the head backwards to widen pharynx. In addition, they close the mouth and push the lower jaw forward so that the tongue does not easily drop backwards.

Ann-Christine tells us that one big advantage is that the sleep collar is easy and very comfortable to travel with.

– You can use it when you relax on the plane to make sure that you do not start snoring or dribbling if you fall asleep, it also works well if you usually fall asleep on the sofa at home in front of the TV or if you are a sleeping passenger in a car.

POSITIVE SIDE EFFECTS

The domino effect of snoring is huge, it can affect memory, motor skills and mood. It causes disturbances with the family and home life, working life and on the road. Snoring can also develop into the sleeping condition ‘sleep apnea’ that causes breathing to temporarily stop throughout the night. It is classified as an illness and should be treated by a doctor as it may result in further complications such as cardiovascular disease, stroke and diabetes 2.

If required, Eezyflow can be used in combination with an anti-snoring mouth splint / nasal dilator and with CPAP treatment using a nasal mask, in order to keep the mouth closed.

Eezyflow is a CE-marked medical device and manufactured in Sweden and Denmark. It is a comfortable travel sleep collar even for those that don’t snore. It weighs only 180 grams and a storage bag is included – making it easy to pop into your hand luggage.

Eezyflow sleep collar is also ideal as a general neck support.

Eezyflow

Made of an elastic supportive memory foam.

Individually molded with custom-made tools.

1. Feather light material that breathes.

2. Comfortable support / supports the jaw.

3. Adjustable.

Eezyflow is perfect for traveling - arrive refreshed and without a crick in your neck/dry mouth.

MAGAZINE SWEDEN

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Back in the limelight!

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Photo: David Sica for Zap PR

Abba Revival

Abba Revival

It’s time to dig out those bell-bottoms, platform boots and paisley shirts!

The fab-four ABBA are back in the limelight and are sensationally releasing two new singles and going ahead with their much talked about world tour in 2019 and 2020.

And there will be a TV special next year.

A

BBA: Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, are reforming, in what must be one of the pop world’s most sensational and unexpected turn of events, to release not one but two new singles.

Accompanying this is a world tour (in UK, Europe, Australia and North America), featuring state of the art digital versions of ABBA as holograms and a TV Special tribute. It was back in October 2016, that their British manager Simon Fuller, first announced that the group would be reuniting to work on a new ‘digital entertainment experience’. The show, featuring the members as ‘life-like’ holograms based on their late 1970’s images, is set to launch in the spring of 2019 after much hard work, drama and delay. A ghostly homage, perhaps, to the much loved 1970’s pop disco scene.

duced by Johan Renck and executive produced

by Simon Fuller.

TIMELESS IN APPEAL

The group which originally formed in 1972 in Stockholm, became an internationally successful pop sensation in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Their catchy and perky tunes have certainly stood the test of time as they continue to be popular today, still garnering many hours of radio play and filling ‘70’s Night’ disco dance floors across the planet with favourites such as Waterloo (1974), Dancing Queen (1976), Knowing me, Knowing you (1977), Chiquitita (1979), Voulez-Vous (1979) and Su-

NEW SONGS

In September 2018, Björn Ulvaeus revealed that the two new songs will be called ‘I Still Have Faith in You’ and ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’ and that there would be a TV special called ABBA: Thank You for the Music, An All-Star Tribute, to be co-produced and televised by NBC and the BBC in March 2019.

The TV special will feature appearances

by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad and include a performance of their new song ‘I Still Have Faith in You’ by their 1970’s digital avatar holograms. It will also include appearances by a variety of music artists performing many ABBA favourites such as Take a Chance on Me, The Winner Takes It All and or course Mamma Mia. The TV special is to be directed and pro-

per Trouper (1980). Just writing the song titles for this article starts up the jukebox in my head and the music starts playing, so prevalent and invasive their music has been during my lifetime. ABBA performed for the last time in Sweden on 19th November 1982, on the TV program Nöjesmaskinen and for the last time ever on 11th December 1982, on Noel Edmonds The Late, Late Breakfast Show in UK. They performed 2 songs and were interviewed via satellite from a television studio in Stockholm and sang their current single Under Attack and I Have A Dream. There was no mention that this would be their last TV appearance.

Despite being out of the direct limelight

for over 35 years, their music seems to have a certain timeless quality. This is certainly true when I consider that they stopped making music way before I was even old enough to fully appreciate the music. Is it the cheerful melodies, catchy choruses, upbeat sound and soothing harmonies or maybe it’s just fond memories the music conjures up of the good old days and the nostalgia it awakens that make ABBA so timeless in appeal.

EUROVISION

ABBA’s breakthrough came after they entered and won the Eurovision Song Contest on 6th April 1974 at The Dome in Brighton, England. It was the first time that Sweden had ever won in the contest, so of course, they won a special place the hearts of the Swedish nation forever more. And the British hearts for that matter. The winning song Waterloo became ABBA’s first number-one single in the big markets such as the UK and West Germany and it set them on the road to international stardom.

The contest is often seen as a bit of light-hearted fun (especially in UK) as opposed to a serious music reckoning, but for Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and their manager Stig Anderson it was seen as a possible way to make the music business become aware of them, both as songwriters and as a band itself. And it has certainly paid off for them! ABBA have the honour of being the most successful group to have ever taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest. And not only that.

ABBA are one of the most successful music bands of all time. It is estimated by some that ABBA have sold over 400 million units worldwide but estimates, it must be said, are hard to corroborate.

In 2010, ABBA’s record label Universal, presented Björn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad

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Abba Revival

North American Tour, Edmonton 1979. Photo: Anders Hanser

with an award for having sold 375 Million singles and albums. Other more conservative listings but the figure at much less than this. But putting exact sales numbers aside, ABBA have without doubt been super-trouper successful for a Eurovision entry and certainly no one-hitwonder like most. In fact, they have had 9 number one selling albums and 12 top ten singles in Sweden alone.

After the initial success of Waterloo and the years of triumph and success that followed in the music world of the late 1970’s, after the disco anthems, the wild costumes and make-up, the glitter and the frenzied good times the group faded away from the limelight after 10 glorious years. Like with all good things, things change and new music ideas replaced ABBA in the disco pop arena. The band unofficially ‘split-up’ and they have not produced any new music together since The Visitors album in 1981, each band member moving on to their own individual projects.

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However, a number of compilation albums have been released throughout the years, most famous of which being ABBA Gold (1992), which has broken many records throughout the years. ABBA have been covered hundreds of times by multiple artists including Cher and Erasure and inspired dozens of tribute bands and even had a parody tribute show made about them called Björn Again, not to mention continually receiving frequent radio play and re-releases of their back catalogue. All of this and more kept ABBA alive and well in the background of our minds even if they themselves were not actively producing new music and having stadium-filling concerts and doing the celebrity chat show rounds like other major bands and groups.

Their music was used in the cult 1990’s films Muriel’s Wedding (1994) and Priscilla Queen of the Desert (1994) and this opened up their music to a new generation and gave them a whole new audience. ABBA became kitsch

and cool as the retro movement gained momentum and became nostalgic for the 1970’s.

The lull in interest in ABBA, that there had been during the late 1980’S and early 1990’s, was transformed when something happened to jump-start the ABBA-machine once again: Mamma Mia! MAMMA MIA!

After the Abba Gold success and a renewed interest in all things ABBA, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson were asked to become involved in a musical using ABBA’s music in the middle of the 1990. Mamma Mia! (actually, promoted as Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus’ Mamma Mia!) is the brainchild of producer Judy Craymar. Craymar first met the ABBA songwriters in 1983 when they were working with Tim Rice on the musical Chess. It was the song The Winner Takes It All that suggested to her that their pop songs had theatrical potential. The songwriters were not enthusias-

Abba Revival tic at the time. But in 1997, Craymer commissioned Catherine Johnson to write the musical.

In 1998, Phyllida Lloyd became the director for the show.

The musical tells the story of a young woman searching for her father. After reading her mother’s diary she finds out that he is one of three possible love interests, her mother had in 1970’s. Convinced that she will instantly recognise him she secretly invites all three of them to visit her mother’s home on a Greek island. Cue a tale of 1970’s summers of love and disco and dancing queens.

It premiered on 6th April 1999 at the Prince Edward Theatre in London to great acclaim with its uplifting high velocity energy it does its utmost to charm and engage everyone in the audience. It is the seventh longest running show in the West End in London and also ran on Broadway for a 14-year stint. Over 60 million people have seen the show, which now has productions all over the world including in Denmark, Holland, China and on cruise ships.

It has grossed over $2 billion worldwide since its 1999 debut.

I personally remember going to see the show about 15 years ago in London, feeling very dubious about it, being dragged along by my sister-in-law and convinced that I didn’t like or even know any ABBA songs. But by the half-way intermission I was singing along to EVERY tune and had to re-evaluate myself over a glass of something at the bar and realise that somewhere inside of me there had been hiding a huge ABBA fan after all. Such was the power and the spirit of the show! I left the theatre singing, laughing, dancing and feeling all voulez-vous! It was two hours of happy escapism from the drudgery and stresses of the real world and maybe that is why the world needs ABBA. It was not just me that thinks that, the show was and still is, a huge hit and in 1999 ABBA Gold found itself on the number one spot once again in UK. The phenomenal success of the musical inevitably attracted the attention of Hollywood and a film was produced in 2008 starring Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Amanda Seyfried, Christing Baranski and Julie Walters. Again, it was a sensational hit. The film was produced by Judy Craymer and Gary Goetzman, written by Catherine Johnson directed by Phyllida Lloyd and with Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson as executive producers.

From the videoshoot of Chiquitita. Photo: Peter Mazel/Sunshine International

MAMA MIA! 2: HERE WE GO AGAIN

So successful was the film that on 20th July 2018, the film sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again was released at cinemas. The film,

Photo: Bengt H Malmqvist/Premium Rockshot MAGAZINE SWEDEN

39

Abba Revival in which Sophie prepares for the grand reopening of the Hotel Bella Donna tells of the back story of her mother’s past and features all the original cast and also stars Cher, it was not only was it a box office smash once again, grossing over $393 million worldwide, it also led to a takeover in the UK charts as sales of the soundtrack and the original first film’s soundtrack album soared up the charts. Cher also released her own album of ABBA covers on the back of the film called Dancing Queen.

Released on 28th September this year, it was Cher’s first album since 2013 and debuted at Number 1 in the US, which was a first for Cher.

That’s ABBA magic in action!

MAMMA MIA! SPINOFFS

North American Tour, Edmonton 1979. Photo: Anders Hanser

The Mamma Mia! phenomenon just keeps on growing and growing. On 20 January 2016, all four original members of ABBA made a public appearance at Mamma Mia! The Party in Stockholm. This is an interactive dinner and entertainment show held at Stockholm’s Tyrol venue. Walk through the doors of Tyrol and you enter a place where the film ends and the partying begins. Guests are transported to a Greek island taverna where Mediterranean food and drinks are served by flirty waiters, at a magical evening interspersed with singing and dancing, daredevil stunts, Zorba and of course a lot of ABBAs songs! It’s a high energy evening of singing, dancing and pure fun.

This immersive attraction - Mamma Mia! The Party - will also now launch in London in Spring 2019, within The O2 Arena. Up to 500 guests a night will be able to enjoy Mediterranean food and drinks in a mock Greek taverna, while the fast-paced show is performed around them, belting out plenty of ABBA songs and spreading glitter galore.

The 72-year old popster Cher has also recently announced, on Twitter, that she is preparing a sequel to her 2018 hit release Dancing Queen. When a fan tweeted Cher asking for her to say something that would make her smile, she replied: “nxt yr abba II”. So, the ABBA-machine continues to go into hyperdrive and with the release of the 2 new singles and the world tour, 2019 is going to be all about ABBA. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

Wax dolls at the Abba Museum … Photo: Pål Allan

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… and in the flesh! Photo: © Universal, Sweden

In an interview with the Telegraph back in 2008 following the premiere of the first Mamma Mia! film, Ulvaeus and Andersson confirmed that there was nothing that could entice them back on stage again. Björn Ulvaeus said: “We will never appear on stage again. There is simply no motivation to re-group. Money is not a factor and we would like people to remember us as we were. Young, exuberant, full of energy and ambition. I remember Robert Plant saying

Abba Revival Led Zeppelin were a cover band now because they only cover all their own stuff. I think that hit the nail on the head.”

And now we find ourselves ten years later with a therefore totally unexpected new world tour, but true to Björn’s word, they will not be physically appearing on stage and their images as digital holograms will show them as they wish to be remembered…young, exuberant, full of energy and ambition. Their younger selves in form of holograms on the stage will be the stars of the show and the audience will truly be transported back to the 1970’s. It will appeal immensely to the original ABBA generation I am sure and also it should capture the interest of the newest generation on the planet with the original and state of the art technology that the show will be presenting. If nothing else, ABBA certainly know how to keep renewing themselves to appeal to each new generation.

It has taken a long time though to get the digital entertainment show together since it was first announced back in 2016, it has taken a lot of hard work and there have been some delays. Guitarist Bjorn Ulvaeus, now 72 said of the process to make the holograms: “They photographed us from all possible angles, they made us grimace in front of cameras, they painted dots on our faces, they measured our heads.” Regarding the 2 new songs Abba said in a joint statement. “We all four felt that after some 35 years it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So, we did. And it was like time had stood still and that we had only been away for a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience!”

So, ABBA are very much back in the limelight, proving that their feel-good pop music is still relevant and appealing to generation after generation and it’s maybe even a necessary antidote to all our modern day worries and woes, so we say Thank You for the Music…

You know the rest!

Text: Nicola Green

Abbamania!

ABBA has many fans from all over the world, welcome to our guide of interesting ABBA-related things to do in Sweden in 2019. Because of all this renewed interest, prepare for ABBA-mania!

ABBA MUSEUM - STOCKHOLM

Pay your respects at this cathedral to all things ABBA. Opened in May 2013 to much fanfare, it houses a comprehensive history of the band members, ABBA the group and the music. Full of memorabilia and original costumes. An interactive museum, where you can sing the songs and even record yourself in the studio and dress up in virtual stage costumes. The museums own tag line ‘Walk in. Dance out.’ says it all really.

VISION - A TRIBUTE TO ABBA GOTHENBURG

On 9th March 2019 there is a chance to see this legendary homage to ABBA. A glamourous and charming show performed in a combination of English and Swedish. The band was formed in London in 1999 and moved to Sweden in 2014.

On at Göteborgs Konserthus, Stenhammar Stage. www.gso.se ABBA CITY WALK - STOCKHOLM

Organised by Stadsmuseet, the tour starts at the City Hall where Benny performed for the very first time and continues via the Sheraton Hotel, one of many places ABBA recorded their videos. The knowledgeable guides show off a whole host of other glittering ABBA points of interest in the heart of Stockholm.

Tours are available in Swedish, English, German, Danish, Spanish, Italian and French. www.stadsmuseet.stockholm.se MAMMA MIA! – WORLDWIDE

Thank you for the music!

Photo: Anders Hanser/Premium Rockshot

Have a night out at the theatre with all your favourites. ABBA’s bestselling hits tell the hilarious story of a young woman searching for her father. After reading her mother’s diary she finds out that he is one of three possible love interests, her mother had in 1970’s. Convinced that she will instantly recognise him she secretly invites all three of them to visit her moth-

er’s home on a Greek island. It’s the ultimate feel-good show that millions have fallen in love with. www.mamma-mia.com MAMMA MIA! - THE PARTY - STOCKHOLM (AND SOON LONDON)

Walk through the doors of Tyrol and you enter a place where the film ends and the party begins. Be transported to a Greek island taverna where Mediterranean food and drinks are served to you by flirty waiters, a magical evening broken into several parts, with singing and dancing, daredevil stunts, Zorba and of course ABBAs songs! Get ready for a high action evening of dancing. www.mammamiatheparty.com HOTEL RIVAL - STOCKHOLM

Stay the night at this hotel owned by none other than ABBA’s Benny Andersson. A small boutique hotel, offering a great selection of bistro, bars and lounge areas, as well as a host of hi-tech amenities. A former cinema, it has now been converted into a 99-room hotel and theatre venue.

You never know, you might find Benny propping up the bar late one night…well you can dream! www.rival.se THE SHOW – TRIBUTE TO ABBA - MALMÖ

On 1st November 2019, Malmö Arena will host a night of ABBA, which according to the official International ABBA Fan Club, is the best tribute show to ABBA, in the world!

THE SHOW was created in 2001 and has had 18 years of impressive worldwide success.

With over 700 concerts in 40 countries on all of the planets five continents, that’s more than two million tickets sold! THE SHOW continually breathes new life into ABBA’s music for their fans of all generations. www.malmoarena.com MAGAZINE SWEDEN

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favourite?

+46

(0)7

nan

71-5

.com

3 53

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Experience 1,300 km of inland Sweden by train. Pass the Arctic Circle.

Selected package tours or adventurous hop on/hop off.

th Jokkmokks Market 7-9 February 2019 Jokkmokks marknad 7–9 februari 2019 A 400-year-old Meeting Place North of the Arctic Circle – En mer än 400-årig mötesplats norr om polcirkeln

Jokkmokk äris förstås Jokkmokk ready for redo all för year dig året om! you round!

Här kan du vandra både Kungsleden och Padjelantaleden, ta en

You can hike in both Kungsleden and Padjelantaleden, go canoeing, kanottur, jagaGo ochdog fiska. Åka hundspann, skidor, skoter gå hunt and fish. sledding, skiing, snowmobiling or tryeller out snow på snöskor det Experience är vinter. Allt duSweden’s i Sverigessecond näst shoes in theom winter. all det this här and finner more, in largest with its unique nature and culture. störstamunicipality kommun med unik natur och kultur.

And to miss our råvaror local specialities and exciting shopping.

Och you du, won’t missa want inte våra lokala och spännande shopping.

Tourist Information can guide you further.

Turistinformationen guidar dig vidare.

Tema:Warmth Värmeinithe kylan Theme: Cold Even though it can be chilly on market days, the

Om än marknadsdagarna blirwarm kyligayou så kan du people and the open fires will up. The känna från människorna öppna eldar. marketvärmen has many things on offer tooch keep you snug; everything from items of clothing, hotkläder, food and Kolla in andra värmekällor; allt från varm drinks the fire to cosy skins. mat & around dryck till kaminer och reindeer mysiga renskinn.

The programme will be available to order from Programmet blir klart i början av december.

December.

Beställ ditt eget från turistinformationen.

Order yours fromexemplar the Tourist Information today.

visit@jokkmokk.se**+46 0971-222 5050 www.jokkmokk.se **visit@jokkmokk.se 971-222

nestorville.se

Which is your

M & re ore inf o inla servat nds ions ba

Gustafsberg’s Porcelain Factory Made in Sweden since 1825

Gustafsberg’s Porcelain Factory is the Nordic region’s only fine bone china manufacturer.

Our finest products are sold through resellers across the country and online.

In Gustavsberg we have our own shop for sale of seconds and many other kitchen and tableware goods. We also have a guided tour of the factory at least once a month.

Chamottevägen 2, Gustavsberg, Stockholm (by the wheel in the harbour) info@gustavsbergsporslinsfabrik.se www.gustavsbergsporslinsfabrik.se

Tel Shop: 08-570 369 00 Open Mon-Fri 10-18, Sat-Sun 11-17 Tel Factory: 08-570 356 63 Mon-Fri 9-15

Travel

Travel the Inlandsbanan The Inland Line (Inlandsbanan) is very unique. Whereas other trains stop in the middle of a town, the Inland Line drops you in the middle of an adventure. Cycle along forest trails, pitch your tent under the midnight sun, make coffee over an open fire, fish, and keep an eye out for the odd moose.

Welcome aboard!

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Travel

Big picture: The wilderness of Dorotea. Photo: Håkan Wike. Above: Travel with The Inland Line through the snowcovered landscape. Photo: Peter Rosén. Top Right: Experience the wonder of the midnight sun. Photo: Håkan Wike. Middle Right: Join the train in the midst of nature. Photo: Håkan Wike. Bottom Right: Take a fly fishing course at the water’s edge. Photo: Sofia Klasson.

T

he Inland Line is a 1,288-kilometre railway line between Kristinehamn in the south and Gällivare in the north.

It’s a wonderful trip into the Swedish inland, where sparkling lakes, babbling streams, proud pine trees and exotic animals play a big part of the experience. MagazineSweden meets Eva Palmgren, Acting Head of Destination Inlandsbanan (to give it its Swedish name) for a talk about this centuries-old cultural treasure.

Northern Sweden and the arctic region are on the bucketlist of many travelers.

Maybe more people should go to Sweden and book a trip with Inlandsbanan to experience the iconic wonders of the north?

– I absolutely agree, says Eva. You will get to see a fantastic and beautiful part of Sweden whilst traveling very comfortably. Come and experience the stillness and silence, magic views, fresh air and midnight sun. You will find adventure, hiking and cycling trails, fantastic fishing waters and a rich wildlife. You can also participate in one of the many festivals that are held every year along the track and experience the rich cultural life and Sami history. Jump on one of the mountain buses and get further up into the mountain range.

Or just sit back and relax and enjoy the dramatic scenery through the train window and the soothing clackety-clack of the rails.

– During the trip, the train passes over the Arctic circle, which for many is a dream come true, says Eva Palmgren. She continues: – There is a nice coffeeshop on-board the train, but a big part of the enjoyment of traveling on The Inland Line is to get off the train and experience the area. Eat local food, meet the locals and get a closer look at Norrland. You can choose to stay overnight at different places and jump on the train again the following day, depending on what you would like to do.

It’s possible to stay in a four-star hotel or even pitch your own tent. Many choose to stay to look at local craftworks or go to a museum. Others are looking forward to fishing in a Norrland river or just go walking and experience the nature and wildlife up close. There is so much to discover along the way.

It must also feel special to travel on a single-track railway, almost like train journeys of the olden days.

– Absolutely! And because The Inland Line runs on a line of its own, we do not need to consider the regular train traffic. We are the only company in the country that run trains, manages the rails and arranges journeys. It gives us unique opportunities to offer trips based on our own criteria. If you want to jump on or off the train at a milking stool in the

middle of the forest for example, it can usually be arranged. We do not need to consider any other trains waiting behind us. It gives us a unique flexibility and helps to create the feeling that it is a special thing to travel with us.

– You could say that it is the train trip itself that is the attraction and the end station of your journey is secondary. We are in many ways the opposite of a mode of transport that runs between points A and B as quickly as possible.

– Of course, we also run to a timetable, but it often happens, for example, that the driver must stop because of reindeer on the track. When this happens, we wait patiently until they move off back into the forest and it sometimes takes a while.

But this is all part of the experience and even an exciting experience for many of our travelers. It’s something that contributes to the charm of traveling with us.

– Most people want to see reindeer and wildlife. We have seen elk, wolves and bears during our trips. And lots of birds of prey.

What is the future for The Inland Line?

– There is an increasing fascination in discovering Swedish Lapland and Northern Sweden, as well as an interest in rail journeys, so the future for Inlandsbanan is bright, concludes Eva Palmgren.

Text: Tony Manieri MAGAZINE SWEDEN

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Food & Drink

Wine tasting at Ă–sterlen Since 2014, the Nordic Sea Winery has been open to the public for visitors.

The round building with its beautiful cedar facade houses a showroom, a wine bar and a restaurant and is open all year round.

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Food & Drink

T

here are not many people who know that some of Sweden’s best-selling wines at the state run off-license Systembolaget, are in fact produced by Nordic Sea Winery and bottled in Österlen. Since the first bottling in 2010, several million litres of wine have been delivered from Simrishamn.

Behind the Nordic Sea Winery stands the Oenoforos Group, founded by the pioneer and innovator Takis Soldatos, who visits vineyards around the world to find grapes of the highest quality. The grapes for the wine are picked from both the old and new world and are fermented on satellite wineries and then shipped to the

Nordic Sea Winery where the wines are processed, stored and bottled before bottling or boxing.

– By moving the final production of the wine from different places in the world to Sweden, it is possible to control the quality throughout the production chain, from the selection of grapes to the final product. In addition, there are large environmental gains and many local jobs are created, says Takis Soldatos, owner of Nordic Sea Winery.

The round building with its beautiful cedar facade holds a showroom, a wine bar and a restaurant and it is open all year round. A lunch is served Monday to Saturday and on Sundays you can enjoy a large, delicious brunch buffet.

The most popular activity is, however, the winery’s guided tours, which are arranged

several days a week and conclude with wine tasting and delicious food cooked with the season’s local produce. On the tour, you can follow the wine whole production up close, see the oak barrels, the tank hall and production line. Nordic Sea Winery welcomes individuals as well as large groups and companies.

Special events are arranged throughout the year, where you will have the chance to taste up to a hundred wines; red, white, rosé and champagne.

Keep up to date on what’s happening through Instagram or Facebook/nordicseawinery.

Enjoy a memorable summer in Österlen!

Text: Charlotte Lindmark Photo: Nordic Sea Winery MAGAZINE SWEDEN

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Shopping

MagazineSweden has all the latest Shopping Mall news.

Shop ‘til you Drop!

Gallerian Nian, Gävle Gallerian Nian has about 50 stores, offering a wide variety and generous opening hours in the center of Gävle. The mall has 700 parking places and 50 stores, restaurants and cafés. It is easily accessible and all the usual retail chains are represented, alongside smaller shops selling home décor and chocolate, partyware and fancy dress. There is also a Jack & Jones, Make Up Store and a nail bar.

Drottningatan 9, Gävle www.galleriannian.se

Mittpunkten, Östersund At Mittpunkten you can find 20 stores and a health center all under one roof ! Everything from sport and fashion retailers to home décor and electronics, to health and beauty.

Espresso House offers a pleasant setting for a coffee break, and with the grocery store, pharmacy and Systembolaget (off license) the offering is complete. Additionally, you will find Norrlands only Apple Premium Reseller store - mStore. mStore has certified experts on hand to provide advice and guidance to customers needing a little help with all of the various products and technology in the Apple range.

Mittpunkten also has a parking garage with 200 parking spaces available.

Kyrkgatan 68, Östersund www.mittpunkten.net

Hallarna, Halmstad Hallarna is Halmstad’s new day-trip destination and Halmstad’s largest shopping mall. If you have ever traversed the E6 you will surely recognize the location, but everything else is new. Hallarna has plenty of new and exciting shops and restaurants and a feeling all of its own. It’s both peaceful and full of new energy, an unusual mix. The former Eurostop mall has been transformed and now has approximately 90 stores, restaurants and cafes and 1,500 free parking spaces. Neighbouring Hallarna, on the same street, is the skyscraper hotel Good Morning Halmstad, one of the tallest buildings in Halmstad, so you can’t miss it!

Prästvägen 1, 302 63 Halmstad www.hallarna.se

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Shopping

Mall of Scandinavia, Stockholm Mall of Scandinavia is the largest shopping center in the Nordic countries with 224 shops and restaurants to choose from. The mall has everything from exclusive brands to concept stores to the classic Scandinavian and international brands/chains. With over 40 restaurants and cafes, Mall of Scandinavia’s ‘The Dining Plaza’ is Stockholm’s largest food court. There are even playrooms and family rooms for the little ones as well as a Game Zone for our older visitors with bowling, laser tag and other games available.

It’s easy to park and free for 4 hours if you are a member. Another plus is the cloakroom, where customers can store their coats and bags free of charge whilst shopping. The cinema complex has 15 screens, including Sweden’s only commercial IMAX screen.

The Designer Gallery regularly hosts exhibitions and activities about photography, art, fashion and technology.

Stjärntorget 2, Råsta Strandväg, Solna www.mallofscandinavia.se

Mood, Stockholm MOOD Stockholm is a shopping mall in Salénhuset on Norrmalm, Central Stockholm. The mall houses both shopping and beauty as well as several top eating establishments.

MOOD offers both recognisable brands and stores that are a little more unique, like Day, Rodebjer, Ralph Lauren, and Best of Brands.

There are plenty of good restaurants and cafés in different price ranges and tastes. There are also a couple of bars and a champagne bar.

Nice.

Arkaden Galleria, Göteborg Arkaden Galleria is a shopping mall on the corner of Östra Hamngatan & Södra Hamngatan at Brunnsparken in central Gothenburg.

The mall consists of twenty-four shops and restaurants over three levels and focuses on fashion, design and interior design. You can find stores like Zara, Raglady, Bolia, MQ, Mango, Tommy Hilfiger and Tesla. Arkaden Galleria is located in the heart of Gothenburg, with entrances on Brunnsparken, Fredsgatan and Östra Hamngatan.

If you are arriving by car, you can park in P-Hus City, Östra Larmgatan.

Fredsgatan 1, Göteborg www.arkadengalleria.se

Regeringsgatan 48 www.moodstockholm.se

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Shopping Nordstan, Göteborg Nordstan is a shopping mall in the area Nordstaden in central Gothenburg. It is ​​306,000 m2 in size and it’s 200 shops and restaurants account for 70,000 m2. Nordstan is Sweden’s largest and most popular shopping mall in terms of turnover and visitor numbers.

Nordstan covers large parts of the city center, connecting them together to form an indoor shopping mall.

Under a single roof there are flagship stores and small shops, together with restaurants and cafés. There is a great variety and the excellent accessibility makes for a pleasant shopping experience for the whole family. It’s a full day out and as an extra plus, dogs are welcome too.

Götgatan 10, Göteborg www.nordstan.se

Triangeln, Malmö Triangeln or Triangelns Shopping Mall, is a mall located at the in the district of Rådmansvången in central Malmö. Triangeln is the city’s fourth largest shopping mall, that is centrally located. There is a large parking garage with 800 spaces and a car washing service.

The mall offers stores selling fashion, trends, beauty and home décor, as well as the usual retail chains. Triangeln also organises creative workshops and courses.

Södra Förstadsgatan 41, Malmö www.triangeln.com

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Emporia, Malmö Emporia is a shopping mall with approximately 230 shops and restaurants built next to Malmö Arena in Hyllie, home of Malmö Redhawks.

Hyllie is an up and coming district in the middle of the Öresund region with good train access from both Sweden and Denmark, making it an attractive destination for visitors.

Shop for fashion and accessories, health and beauty, children’s toys, home décor, sports, electronics, groceries or visit one of their many restaurants at the food court.

Hyllie Boulevard 19, 215 32, Malmö www.emporia.steenstrom.se

Shopping Erikslund Shopping Center The region’s largest shopping mall with over 6.5 million visitors a year, welcome to one of Sweden’s largest shopping areas, Erikslund.

Erikslund Shopping Center is a modern, comfortable and comprehensive shopping mall with IKEA and the large grocery chain, City Gross, under the same roof. With over 80 stores, there is an attractive mix of the leading Swedish and international chains, local offerings and niche stores.

Erikslund Shopping Center has been named one of the most popular shopping venues in Sweden, being in the top three for several years in a row. The shopping mall is strategically located next to the E18, which is the main artery between Stockholm and Oslo. There are approximately 3500 parking spaces, with nearly 1000 located in the garage, and it’s free parking.

Krankroksgatan 17, Västerås www.erikslundshoppingcenter.se

E–Center, Söderhamn E-center is a shopping mall in Söderhamn and it is Hälsingland’s largest shopping mall. The shopping mall was opened on 25th March 1993 and was named so because it is adjacent to the E4. It is now being expanded and it is planned to double in size. Today the building consists of 4 different shopping malls and a large ICA grocery store.

You can shop at retail chains like ÖoB, Team Sportia, Bouquet, Burger Land, Eurosko, Dollarstore, Jycken & Co, Lekia, Enjo, Kicks and Lindex.

Avesta Galleria Avesta Galleria is a very modern mall, which provides a total shopping experience with a bowling alley and relaxing cafés, right in the center of Avesta. The building also houses a completely non-smoking three-star hotel with 79 rooms and a conference venue, for both large and small groups. Directly connected to Avesta Galleria is a large parking area with free parking.

There are many of the big retail chains at Avesta: Hennes & Mauritz, KappAhl, Lindex, Vero Moda, Gallerix, Kicks, Apothek, Intersport, Goldfound, Playhouse, Ticket, Clockmaker, Health Food, Wayne’s Coffee, Avesta Bowling, just to name a few. Plus a food court in it’s very center..

Stickvägen 3, Söderhamn http://www.e-center.se

Markustorget 1, Avesta www.avestagalleria.se

MAGAZINE MAGAZINESWEDEN SWEDEN

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Weddings

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Weddings The Bridal Fair:

Bröllopsmässan

To have a bridal fair in an exhibition hall is a big no-no for Ann-Christin Widinghoff.

Therefore, her bridal fair, Brollopsmässan, is being held in January at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm and as usual, Ann-Christin herself, is pulling all the strings. The theme for Brollopsmässan 2019 is Fairy Tale Weddings, with the subheading ‘Wedding, fantasy, fiction and reality - a playroom for inspiration to create your own fairy tale wedding.’

B

rollopsmässan began in 2001 with just a handful of exhibitors and over the years it has grown to what we see today.

In January 2019, the fair is being held for the nineteenth time and will have more than a one hundred exhibitors.

– The framework for this type a fair is extremely important. A bridal fair should not be held in a big exhibition hall but in an environment that suits the subject matter, says Ann-Christin Widinghoff, CEO and founder of Brollopsmässan. Since 2003, we have had the privilege of holding our fair at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm. Because of this, we clearly send out the message that it is a quality bridal fair and in doing so, attract both exhibitors and visitors alike.

– The original idea of ​​creating a wedding fair actually came from a photographer that I met many years ago. In 2000, he held a small bridal show in his photo studio, but as soon as the goldsmith and the hairdresser had taken their places, the studio was full already! So, he asked me if I was interested in holding a proper fair instead.

And that’s where I find myself today.

Are weddings as popular now as they were before, or is there a declining trend?

– The shape and content of weddings have obviously changed over the years, but the number of weddings is fairly constant, about 50,000 a year. Nowadays we also have many different variations to the traditional church wedding and that is something that our exhibitors know a lot about. There is something for everyone at Bröllopsmässan, no matter how someone imagines what their wedding will look like. And because we have many exhibitors at the fair, it’s possible for everyone to create their own dream day - no matter how big or small, Ann-Christin continues.

– In the beginning, it was mostly brides visiting us with their sisters, friends and mothers, but in recent years it has become more and

more common that the future groom comes along too and plays a big part in planning the wedding and enjoying what the fair has to offer.

– Some people also come just to experience the atmosphere, even if they do not have an upcoming wedding and we like that. We try to introduce something new every year, so as not to be too repetitive. This is in part because it is important that we keep up with new fashions and trends and also, we want our visitors to feel that Bröllopsmässan has something new, exciting and fresh to offer every year.

What is new and exciting for the 2019 show?

– We have a fairy tale theme that permeates through the whole fair. Additionally, we have started a very exciting collaboration with Tim Mårtenson, who is a costume and plume designer. He is actually the only plume designer in the Nordic region, so it is a great pleasure that we could join forces. He has worked with both the royal household and some of the biggest theatres in the country.

– Trends for wedding dresses change from year to year across Europe and for 2019, the trend it is very much one of plumes, feathers, stones and above all large flowers. Working with Tim has given us the opportunity to enter the world of fantasy with his amazing creations, that he designs exclusively for our fair, Ann-Christin says.

– With regards to wedding dresses, we have about fifteen of the largest European brands taking part in the fair and we are the only fair to have changing rooms for our future brides to try out their dream dress.

What would you say is the biggest difference today, compared to when you first stared almost 20 years ago?

– One enormous change is the technical developments, apps and online niche companies that help to simplify the planning of a wedding.

The whole market for the different aspects of a wedding planning is constantly growing and it is very exciting to follow. Twenty years ago, when we first started, it was in principle: choose a dress, hairstyle, suit, venue, rings

and a cake. Today there is a massive variety of things and ideas to consider, ideas that you could never have imagined back then. It’s a constant stream of new influences and ideas when planning a wedding nowadays.

Is Brollopsmässan only in Stockholm or do you hold it at other places in the country?

– Actually, we have held 52 fairs since we first started and through the years we have visited Gothenburg, Malmö, Uppsala, Västerås, Sundsvall, Jönköping and Norrköping. Next year we will hold a fair in Örebro, in addition to the main fair in Stockholm.

In 2020, Brollopsmässan will be celebrating its twentieth year. Have you planned anything special for the anniversary?

– I have got so many exciting things planned, all of which is top secret, of course!” concludes Ann-Christin Widinghoff with a twinkle in her eye.

Text: Tony Manieri Photo: kickifotograf.se

Ann-Christin Widinghoff is already making plans for the 2020 anniversary. Photo: Brigitte Grenfeldt.

MAGAZINE SWEDEN

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History

The right to freedom

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History The Nobel Museum presents: The Right to Freedom - Martin Luther King Jr. The exhibition highlights the importance and necessity of fundamental basic human rights - and promotes the 1964 Peace Prize’s vision of equality and fairness for all, through non-violent means.

Bernice A. King. Photo: Alexander Mahmoud

F

ew, if anyone, has so strongly personified a political movement like Martin Luther King, his rhetorical ability has made an impression on many of us. Martin Luther King’s life and his effort is a fascinating part of a major event in the history of the 20th century. His struggle has contributed to several important legislative changes. His dreams, ideas and ability to express them appear to be immortal.

Of all Nobel laureates, King is the one who attracts the most online searches. In 2018, it was both the 70th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the 50th anniversary of the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. Therefore, it was natural for the Nobel Museum to create an exhibition about the king of Civil Rights.

“Due to King’s great global popularity, we are convinced that the exhibition will appeal to visitors from all over the world. We also hope that it will inspire young people to follow in his footsteps” says Olov Amelin, head of the Nobel Museum.

The 1950’s and 1960’s were turbulent times in the United States. The civil rights movement grew rapidly and fought against segregation

Ashley Woods. Photo: Alexander Mahmoud

laws and discrimination. The bus boycott in 1955 with Rosa Parks standing her ground, the school battle around ‘Little Rock Nine’ in 1957 and the march to Washington demonstrating about work and freedom in 1963 are some examples of the actions that led to the Civil Rights Act 1964 and the Voting Rights Act 1965, which strengthened the civil rights of all Americans.

The Nobel Prize in 1964 became an important acknowledgment for King and the civil rights movement. King’s campaign continued, among other things, with the abandonment of the Vietnam war and campaigns for social and economic justice.

Thanks to a number of American institutions, including The King Centre in Atlanta, Georgia, the exhibition has become voluminous and profound. Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King’s youngest child Bernice A. King is the CEO of the Centre and her main task is to lead on with the legacy of non-violence.

She wants to commend the Nobel Museum for the decision to present a new exhibition about her father’s life and work and is pleased that her mother, Coretta Scott King, has been also highlighted as having contributed as an activist in her own right. She believes that her parents’ message of social justice and equality is just as important today as it was back then.

The exhibition is divided into eight sections that tell us about the different stages of King’s life and his achievements. Each section also highlights various aspects of human rights.

The exhibition consists of photographs, objects and films, including new interviews with people who knew King, like the artist Harry Belafonte.

The curator Ashley Woods says it has been absolutely essential to design the exhibition to appeal to the younger generation, and this means getting technical. In the digital program ‘Dream Builder’, visitors can build their own dream based on concepts talked about in the exhibition.

Following the murder of Martin Luther King on 4th April 1968, developments took a new direction, but King’s ideas and visions of all human beings being equal have continued.

Coretta Scott King continued the fight and became involved in, among other things, opposition to nuclear weapons and women’s rights issues. The fight against prejudice, discrimination and violence is a constant one.

The exhibition is on at the Nobel Museum in Gamla Stan, Stockholm, until 15th September 2019.

Text: Anna Ekberg

Martin Luther King, Jr. at one of the marches from Selma to Montgomery. The demonstrators demanded equal voting rights for all citizens.

Photo: Filip Schulke / Corbis via Getty Images MAGAZINE SWEDEN

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Literature

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MAGAZINE SWEDEN

Literature

Denise Rudberg Denise Rudberg is on her eighth book in her Marianne Jidhoff series and now her first book, A Small Indiscretion is being released in English too. Rudberg’s world of elegant crime has sold over 3 million copies in Sweden. She is currently working on book number nine in the series, and is involved in a number of radio projects. And she is loving every minute of it.

A

few years ago, Denise Rudberg led a TV series called Skilsmässohotellet (The Divorce Hotel).

She was interested to take up this role because amongst other things, she had a desire to convey the importance of the law in marriage and divorce. It is also people, relationships and the law that are the focal element in her novels.

– The approach to family law in Sweden is quite lame. Many people discover way too late that life can end up in difficult situation because they have not thought through the legal side of things properly. Especially if marriage results in a divorce. For example, joint holdings may not be able to be divided and resolved if one party refuses to sign the divorce papers, explains Denise Rudberg.

But surely divorce and dividing joint holdings is the last thing you think about when getting married?

– Yes, but you still should do it. Just to avoid the unnecessary unpleasantness if the relationship does not work out. I am going to be very hard on my children when it comes to such things in the future.

Your main character Marianne Jidhoff lives a life that is in many ways completely opposite to your own childhood. Is that a conscious decision?

– Not really. There are both a lot of differences and similarities. For example, Marianne has an absent mother, just like I had. But her mother died in childbirth and that did not happen to my own mother, still, there is an element of similarity.

Your books see a lot of oysters and champagne and glamorous events. Is your own life also like that?

– No, I’m not so intere-

sted in gala dinners and big parties, I prefer to spend time with my family and close friends.

Champagne is great for something special, but I prefer a nice glass of red wine. Oysters are wonderful though, at the right occasion. A clear similarity between Marianne and I, is that we both have just a few close friends and enjoy spending time with our big families the most.

You often describe people in a way that can be described as upper class, not least Marianne.

– That’s right, but the definition of upper class today, is not what it was a hundred years ago. At that time, one’s status was linked to either nobility or economic success. That’s not really how it is today. There is a completely different type of upper class today. It may be economic, but also for example, it can be social or political or cultural.

Does Marianne Jidhoff still surprise you when you write?

– Yes, all the time! Marianne is quite capricious and she always flits from one thing to the next. That’s fun! It always feels exciting to spend time with her, not least because no one knows what she will do next.

– The feeling of not really knowing what is going to happen in any particular situation or how the characters should act and react, is one of those things that mean I never get tired of writing.

Now you have just published the eighth book in the series. Will there be more?

– Yes definitely! I have just started writing number nine and have plans for there to be at least twelve. But it can be significantly more than that, time will tell.

Do you remember when you first looked at yourself in the mirror and said: My name is Denise and I’m a writer?

– Actually, I did that after my first book, really though, I should have written two books before officially calling myself an author! My

first book made a very big impact, which of course helped a lot. But in actual fact, it was more the feeling that I had found my place.

Writing is something I will continue to do for as long as I can, that’s a great feeling.

The titles of your Swedish novels about Marianne Jidhoff, all contain a number, your latest book being Eight Steps Behind. Was that planned from the beginning?

– Yes, it was. I wanted whole numbers in their original form, one, two, three and not second, third, fourth. It is a bit of a challenge when it comes to deciding on the titles, but that is how I wanted it. This makes it easy for my readers to keep track of the order of the books and I think that it is appreciated. Marianne’s life is told chronologically, so it may be a bit confusing to read the books in the wrong order.

Maybe it’s because I myself like good order and am pretty pedantic!

Did you know from the beginning that it would be a long series?

– Yes. I had planned for there to be nine books before I started writing the first one.

Not in terms of the crimes, but in terms of the development of the characters. I did a lot of work on Marianne and the other main characters before I even started writing the first sentence. Because of this, it became easier for both myself and the reader to follow the character’s lives and get to know their whims and ways.

I personally do not like it when an unknown sister, who has never been mentioned before, suddenly pops up in book three. You won’t find such surprises in my books, but hopefully you will find something else that thrills...

Book one: A Small Indiscretion is available now, in English, and we have a little teaser for you in this edition of Magazine Sweden …

Text: Tony Manieri Photo: Anna-Lena Ahlström

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Literature Translated by Laura A. Wideburg.

Original title: Ett litet Snedsteg, 2010. Rights: Lennart Sane Agency.

A little indiscretion

by Denise Rudberg “I’m afraid that Hans is about to pass away, so please prepare yourself.”

Marianne blinked and tried to understand what the friendly nurse from Ersta Hospice was telling her. Her entire body fought against this incomprehensible news.

They were just stopping by for anew minutes. The entire family had been there yesterday evening and they’d had a nice dinner together. Hans had seemed more energetic than he’d been for weeks.

She’d come with their son Peder on a whim to see if Hans wanted to spend some time in the sunshine. What had happened during the night?

How could he have taken such a turn for the worse in such a short time?

Why hadn’t the people from the Hospice called her earlier?

The nurse replied as if she’d been reading Marianne’s thoughts.

“He woke up just a few minutes ago and was in great pain. The doctor was just here and examined him – he has taken a bad turn. I’m sorry, but this can happen quickly, much more quickly than we often realize. I can understand how this must be a shock to you. You have my sympathy.”

“How is Hans right now?”

“He seems to know what is happening. I believe he feels ready.”

Peder was looking straight ahead, holding her hand. Marianne squeezed his hand gently. Finally, she was able to understand what the nurse was telling her. She nodded to the friendly nurse.

“I’m just going to call my daughters.”

The nurse said, “Let me call them. I believe it’s best if you go to him now.”

Marianne took a deep breath and stepped into Hans’ room. The sun was shining, and, to her surprise, the window was open. The nurse nodded.

“Hans asked me to open it for him.”

Marianne walked over to the bed to look at her husband. He was extremely thin and she could see he was upset because he was unable to keep his mouth closed.

Peder sat down on the other side of the bed, and took his father’s hand in his. Marianne watched her son. His jaw was clenched so tightly that it had lost its color.

She picked up Hans’ left hand and rubbed it gently. She felt his wed-

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ding ring beneath her fingers and that made her smile. She saw a weak smile in return, and her eyes filled with tears, which she couldn’t stop.

She knew that Hans hated her tears, but she couldn’t help herself.

“The nurse is calling Nina and Sigrid.”

Hans shut his eyes and she felt a slight pressure on her hand from his.

She understood what he meant – they weren’t going to make it in time.

Marianne cleared her throat and wiped her cheek with irritation before her tears could fall on the sheet. She tried to speak as strongly and clearly as she could.

“I love you. I’m here for you.”

Hans, eyes still closed, seemed to nod slightly.

Peder tried to strangle a sob.

Hans opened his eyes to look at Marianne. His mouth seemed to try to form sounds, so she leaned closer to him. Hans finally managed to say, “Irene…”

Marianne leaned even closer. She looked at her husband quizzically.

Hans made an extraordinary effort to say, “Irene. Where is Irene?”

She saw the heartbreak in his eyes. Heartbreak over the inability to say what he wanted to say, as well as loss. The kind of loss a boy has after running away from his mother.

Hans looked around the room as if searching for someone. Just as Marianne started to ask him about this Irene, his eyes turned empty. A weak sigh came from his mouth, and his hand in Marianne’s had a spasm.

His eyes rolled to the ceiling and it was all over.

Marianne released his hand. Her own arms fell limply to her sides.

Marianne felt a pressure in her chest as if her lungs were going to burst. When she finally dragged in a deep breath, she saw that Peder was looking over at her with worry.

“Mamma, how are you?”

He went around to her and helped her to her feet. They stood there for a long time, she never knew how long, with their arms around each other.

Marianne forced herself to look at Hans, but then had to turn away.

All she wanted was to leave this horrible room.

Part One Paula Steen let her arm slide down his stomach, feeling the hair on his chest tickle her underarm. He jerked in his sleep, and then he looked at her in irritation before he turned over and muttered, “I have to get more sleep. I got home at two thirty last night.”

Paula turned with him and spooned his body with hers as she spoke softly, “We’ve missed you here at home. Especially me…”

She slowly ran her fingers underneath the band of his shorts, but he harshly pushed her hand away.

“Cut it out! I told you I have to sleep!”

He pulled up the blanket protectively so she could no longer get at him. Soon she heard his deep breathing and it appeared he was back asleep. Paula lay beside him and let the tears run down her cheeks. Her arousal had changed into something more shameful.

Perhaps she was making too big a deal of the whole thing. Was she like the men who feel rejected when their wives are no longer interested?

And just like them, she had no right to demand sex from her husband.

She wondered if they felt as much shame as she did now when they were turned away.

Paula knew exactly how long it had been since the last time they’d had sex: four months and two days. It was the evening after they’d celebrated the tenth birthday of their eldest daughter. Even then Paula had had to take the initiative, but at least he’d responded and they’d had great sex. Paula thought they were getting better at it as the years had gone by,

Literature so she did not understand how it had come to this. Was there something he didn’t like? Did he think she’d become repulsive, even though she worked hard to keep her body in shape? It had hardly changed since the day they’d met fifteen years ago. Fifteen years and two pregnancies! He’d even mentioned once that he was pleased that he had such an attractive wife who kept in shape and hadn’t let herself go.

Jens had always fixated on appearance. Her friends had been shocked when he’d given her breast plastic surgery for her fortieth birthday, but she’d understood. Jens took good care of his own body and kept in shape, so why shouldn’t he expect the same from her? It was only fair. He’d used Botox for his forehead wrinkles and Restylane for his cheeks, but no one was supposed to know about it. Since Jens cultivated the natural look, her breast operation was only a slight improvement and not a major increase.

One hundred grams in one breast and one hundred fifty in the other.

The needed lift had created a small T-shaped scar, but it had started to fade right away and could hardly be seen now. Paula still wondered why he’d insisted on the operation, since he’d never been all that interested in her breasts. He never touched them, not even when they were having sex. It almost seemed as if he were avoiding that area. The same thing applied to her vagina. Perhaps her vagina was loose after having children.

Perhaps that was the reason their sex life was dwindling.

If that was the case, she was ready to undergo vaginal surgery to tighten things up. Her plastic surgeon performed those kinds of operations as well. Jens had told her, however, that her vagina was not the reason, and then indicated the subject was closed.

Paula shut her eyes and wondered if she could fall back to sleep. She realized at once it wouldn’t work. Instead, she swung her legs over, set her feet on the well-oiled wooden floor, put on her robe and fumbled for her slippers. She felt confused. They weren’t where they were supposed to be. Perhaps she’d left them downstairs by the television last night.

She spent a moment in the bathroom and then headed downstairs, letting her hand drag along the whitewashed wooden railing.

The girls weren’t at home. They’d gone with friends to a neighbor’s country house because school was closed on Thursday and Friday for a teacher’s retreat. The neighbors had asked her about having the girls at their place on Vaddö and this long weekend had made the perfect opportunity.

Paula had tried to sound relaxed about how long the girls would be gone – until late Sunday night – because it was unusual to have them away for such a long period of time. She had done her best to look on the bright side. She would be alone with Jens and she’d planned yesterday in great detail. Dinner was ready by six in the evening.

When Jens called to say his plane would be late, she’d started to cry.

Jens became irritated and snapped at her to tell her she should be grateful he’d called to save her waiting at the airport.

She’d apologized and said they’d still have time together that weekend.

When they’d hung up, she drank a glass of wine, since the bottle was already open, and after two more glasses, she’d gone upstairs and taken out her dildo. She’d bought it in secret a few months back, because her fingers were no longer doing the trick. As usual, she was finished quickly. As she cleaned the dildo with soap and water, she felt ill. Then she hurried back downstairs to drink up the rest of the bottle.

Now she still felt the wine affecting her head. She was dizzy when she reached the bottom stair. She thought she should check to make sure she wasn’t suffering from anemia again. The doctor had told her to eat more meat, but she didn’t like the taste.

In addition, Jens kept saying that meat was the kind of food modern people no longer needed.

Paula jumped in surprise. Her slippers were in the middle of the kitchen in front of the refrigerator. She looked around while pulling her robe tighter around her body.

She didn’t remember going to the refrigerator last night before bed.

Perhaps she didn’t remember because of that whole bottle of wine. Still, she usually didn’t snack in the evening, even if she was drinking.

Perhaps Jens had put her slippers there last night by mistake. He knew she liked to slip her feet into them the moment she got up; perhaps he’d meant to bring them upstairs, but had forgotten them half way.

Paula put on her slippers and opened the refrigerator. She took out soymilk to warm in the microwave and some Kusmi tea. She mixed the warm milk with granola and cut in a third of a banana. She felt herself eating too quickly and forced herself to chew thirty times before swallowing. It wasn’t easy. The food wanted to go down much faster than she could control it. Her reflexes were too sharp. Carbs were her enemy number one and she kept strict control over how much she ate so that giving in to them wouldn’t ruin her character.

Once she’d eaten her breakfast, she stared at the empty bowl for a long time. She knew she shouldn’t eat anything more, but she decided to make another half portion. As the soymilk heated in the microwave, she looked outside her window.

A teenage boy was riding past her house on a bicycle. He looked up at her, and he was running one hand through his hair. Paula guessed he was seventeen or eighteen and was fairly good-looking – like Jens when he was younger.

The microwave beeped and she opened the door at the same time her cell phone started to ring.

A message: You look sexy when you’re asleep.

She laughed as she read the text again. Then, her brow furrowed, she tried to find the number the text was sent from. She didn’t recognize it.

She smiled while she walked up the stairs to her bedroom. Typical Jens – he’d probably sent it from one of his work numbers. It was the kind of thing he used to do when they’d just fallen in love. She’d enjoyed his romantic surprises from those days. Still smiling, she opened the bedroom door—and was startled.

Jens still slept in the same position she’d left him. She whispered, confused, “Jens, are you sleeping?”

No answer and no reaction. Jens was completely asleep.

She slowly walked back down the stairs, her cell phone in her hand.

She read the text a few more times, and then deleted it from her inbox.

Someone must have dialed the wrong number.

Marianne had just gotten a phone call from Olle Lundqvist a quarter of an hour earlier. He’d told her he was in the neighborhood and wondered whether he could come up and see her. He had an important question to ask her.

Marianne reluctantly agreed but asked for half an hour to get ready for visitors. She wasn’t thinking of her own appearance, but rather the state of her apartment. She no longer felt she needed a housecleaner and she’d let many chores slide. For the past three months, since her husband had passed away, she barely left her home.

She had all the time in the world to keep her house clean now, but the most she’d done was vacuum once a week or so and keep the bathroom sparkling. She automatically had a clean kitchen, as she always tidied up after meals. Still, although her place was never completely chaotic, Marianne Jidhoff was proud of how she kept her home--usually spotless. But this summer she just hadn’t had the energy.

She looked around and decided that twenty minutes would put the place to rights. She vacuumed the hallway and around the sofa and the living room where she usually had her evening sandwiches. She just skipped the rest. The strong sunshine emphasized a thick layer of dust on the leather ottoman, which she used as a coffee table, and she used her sleeve to wipe it down. The whitewashed wooden floors were protected by a worn but authentic Persian rug, and she realized it was time to bring MAGAZINE SWEDEN

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Literature it in to the dry cleaner’s. No time now. She fluffed up the sofa, where she’d slept the night before. She saw it was time to change the slipcover from the white summer canvas to the blue and gray striped one for the winter season. The French balcony doors needed to be cleaned, too, but her visitor probably wouldn’t notice.

As she walked into the hall, she rearranged the plaid blanket over the armchair in front of the fireplace, and re-positioned the candlestick on the mantel. She checked the hallway once more, and removed the pile of mail, which had accumulated on the antique desk. She felt the hallway was now presentable, although she still ran her finger over the rim of the golden mirror frame and frowned at the dust.

She closed the door to the bedroom. Olle wouldn’t need to go there.

She herself seldom entered the three bedrooms down the hall unless she had to get something stored there. She had not yet started to redecorate the rooms of her three grown children. That would have to be a future project. With some irritation, she closed the door to the library. It had been her favorite room in the house, but she hadn’t entered it since that day in May when Hans had passed away. Something was keeping her back. She just wasn’t ready yet.

She went into the guest bathroom. The wallpaper, designed by Josef Frank, was starting to look worn. Still, it gave this room some character, as opposed to the somber look in the rest of her house. Over the past decades, she had come to discover her own personality little by little. The more Hans worked at his career, the more time she put into their home. It was also a hidden strategy on her part; the more elegant her home was, the more Hans felt lost in it. He’d brought only one thing into the house when they married thirty years ago – a wall clock he’d inherited from his mother’s side of the family. The wall clock never worked and wasn’t all that attractive, either.

She found herself in her own bedroom. She gathered up all the dirty clothes she’d flung on a chair and put everything in the hamper. She smoothed the sheets and arranged the pillows against the Muscat brown headboard. She’d changed the sheets a few days earlier and wasn’t about to do it again. They were summer sheets: light blue stripes. It was highly unlikely that Olle would need to come in here, but still.

Her daughters often teased Marianne that she still arranged her home according to the seasons. They told her that there was no reason to change sheets, slipcovers and curtains just because the thermometer showed different temperatures. Marianne disagreed. It was important to keep track of the seasons. It added value to daily life and made her appreciate her home even more. Still, it was probably a generational thing, like many others.

Time was getting short now, so she shed her worn sweater and pulled out a white, linen blouse, which she’d hung over a similar gray linen pair of slacks. Her hair had grown fairly long now, and she’d never dyed it, so she felt she seemed more bohemian than usual. But what did it matter?

She found a clasp and pulled her hair to the back, and had just put on a scarf, tied in a soft knot, when the doorbell rang.

She had no time to worry about any deodorant or perfume. It was more important that Olle would just tell her what he had to say and then leave. She just wanted the meeting over and done with.

Olle Lundqvist took a sip of the mineral water Marianne had given him and then set the glass down on a coaster with a map motif. His first two fingers pressed over his mouth, a gesture he had before he was about to plead a case. He cleared his throat, and Marianne realized he was somewhat embarrassed to ask for a favor in such a direct way.

“I know it’s difficult making decisions now, but by the end of the week, I need to know what you finally decide. Your replacement has asked for the job permanently, and I don’t have the heart to ask her to leave if you decide not to return. I know you think you’ve already made up your

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mind. I have your letter of resignation. Still, for my sake, Marianne, would you reconsider?”

Marianne noticed her heart leap, but she couldn’t decide if it was from worry or relief. Most likely the latter. Her lips were dry and they felt rough as she pressed them together. She found that she was smiling. She nodded toward the man she’d known as a good friend for the past twenty years.

“I understand, but you might as well give her the permanent position.”

“Are you absolutely sure? I think it’s a stupid move on your part. And sad. Actually, I am not going to decide until Friday at least. I want you to come to see me personally at work to give me your final answer. Damn it all, Marianne, I need you! I need your competence! Not a single one of the prosecution secretaries has a legal degree. Nor do they have your experience – not by a long shot. I think you should have a sense of responsibility! Do you really think your replacement could come from a pool of temporary secretaries? Do you understand the difference between your abilities and theirs?”

“It’s starting to sound like blackmail to me.”

“You can call it whatever you like. You’ve had over twenty years of experience as well as assisting Hans. Of course, you felt it was your duty since you were married, but you’ve learned a lot because of it.”

Marianne could see Olle looked tired. She wondered if there was something weighing on him – it seemed likely.

“Is there anyone still around that I know? There are mostly new people these days, right?”

“Yes, but people come and go. You know that.”

He steered the conversation in a different direction.

“How have you been dealing with the practical side of things? Do you need assistance with anything? What are you planning to do with your summer house on Dalarö? Are you planning to keep it?”

Marianne noticed a hard edge in her voice as she answered. “I have no plans to sell my summer house. Hans never had much to do with it. He even hated to go there.

Not just that he’d rather be working, but that he thought Dalarö symbolized everything he hated. He used to call it Snobbery Island. He was not much for status – it was a miracle I managed to convince him to move to Östermalm in the first place.”

Olle nodded. “No, he never felt at home in your world.”

Marianne sighed and shook her head. “Otherwise, everything is fairly well taken care of. Some paperwork left, but I need some forms from the tax office to complete it. Nina is taking care of it, actually, and my father is the executor.”

“How is Harry, by the way?”

“I think he’s getting more energetic by the year. It’s almost irritating.

He’ll outlive us all. Last spring was his seventy-eighth birthday. He’s still active. I doubt there’s a single charitable organization without him on the board. Lately, he even joined the board of some exercise organization for Östermalm’s retirees.”

Olle whistled. “It sure is hard to believe he’s reached that age. He looked imposing at the funeral in his air force uniform. Is he still in contact with his military buddies?”

Marianne nodded. “Of course. They have lunch once a week.”

There was a pause in the conversation, and Marianne hoped that Olle had gotten off track now that the funeral had come up. She decided to let the mood hang in the room instead of changing the subject to put him at ease.

She began to feel the need for a cigarette. She kept a pack on the top shelf of the kitchen cupboard by the stove. She hadn’t smoked, herself, in over thirty years, but she kept a pack to offer guests in her home. A few times she’d taken a puff or two.

Literature She was surprised that the need to smoke came on so suddenly and so strongly. She hadn’t even had any alcohol. Drinking often brought with it the desire to smoke.

She began to drum her fingers on the armrest.

Olle finally broke the silence.

“How are the girls taking it?”

“Nina hasn’t changed. She still organizes everything and tells everyone else what to do. Sigrid lets her big sister be in charge. She’s taken things more calmly. She keeps out of it as much as she can. She is going to open a design studio on the first floor of this building. She’s always been lost in her sewing. Nina was hit harder by Hans’ death, because she was her father’s daughter. Being the eldest, she was used to taking on responsibility. She has trouble understanding me. She thinks I’m not grieving for Hans in the proper way.”

“What about Peder?”

“He’ll be heading back to Australia. He promised Hans he’d finish his education. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure how he’s feeling. He doesn’t show anything on the surface. I don’t believe he cried during the funeral.”

Olle nodded. “People grieve in different ways. Perhaps he’ll start to deal with it once he’s left Stockholm. And you? How are you doing?”

“Well, honestly, I don’t really know.”

Marianne tried to ignore the memory, which played in her mind like a snippet from a film.

Olle looked at her with compassion.

“You don’t have to tell me. I understand.”

Although she hadn’t intended to say anything, she found herself blurting out, “I’m just so angry at him!”

Olle’s voice was soft as he replied, “People often feel like that in the beginning. It’s part of the grieving process. Being angry is perfectly normal.”

Marianne felt her eyes narrow and she almost hissed back at him. She pictured again Hans on his deathbed, his words a final humiliation.

“I’m sure you’re right,” she said with a strained voice.

After the long pause that followed, Marianne stood up.

“I’m sorry to be a bad hostess, but I have to take a shower and get ready for a doctor’s appointment. I’ve also promised to make dinner this evening and I need to get my shopping done. Peder has been eating sandwiches for weeks and I don’t want him going back to Australia without having had some of his favorite dishes. Pappa and Sigrid will be here, too.”

“What about Nina?”

“She’s going with her husband Robert to a friend’s place. She needs to get away from all this for a while. She’s been taking too much responsibility for the rest of us.”

“We all choose our roles. But I need to get going, too.”

Marianne followed him to the entry hall. She handed him his scarf. As he was taking it from her, she could see in his eyes that he was debating whether to say something or not. Finally he spoke.

“Marianne, I really would like you to come back. I’m serious.”

Marianne examined his face, surprised by the deep feeling in his voice.

“Has something serious come up?”

Olle swallowed. He buttoned up his coat, but then simply left it on as he turned away from the front door and strode back into the living room.

He sank down in a chair and covered his face. For a moment, Marianne wondered if he were going to start crying, but he then sat up straight and looked her in the eye.

“Marianne, I’ll give it to you straight. Please forgive me, but I don’t want to mince words.”

Marianne felt her heart flip-flop and felt a sour taste in her mouth.

Olle continued, “We have had some issues lately. There’s been a leak of confidential information. Of course, that’s not a new problem, but nev-

er before at the level we’re experiencing. It’s way out of hand. There are leaks to the media, to different departments, between local and national and even Säpo, though God only knows how they’re getting their hands on it.”

“And you have no idea how?” “We suspect a number of people. We’re in the middle of setting up a new internal security system. But that takes time. I’ve devised a new strategy and you are the linchpin.”

Marianne was taken aback, but Olle was not yet finished.

“I want to keep this group very small. I want to have people reporting only to me.

We can then keep things watertight.”

“You can certainly find someone to take my place. A true assistant to the prosecutor.

What about that new guy Tommy you’ve mentioned before?”

“Listen to me, Marianne! It’s you I want! You know this organization inside and out.

You know it from your own work and also from what Hans was doing.

I know this is a sensitive area, but…we both know that Hans was a fine person in his own way. One of the best we had in the Swedish legal system. Still, he had a weakness -- women. I believe that that is where the leaks started.”

Marianne coughed and ran a hand down her thigh, while looking straight at Olle.

“What are you saying? Are you implying he leaked sensitive information through some lover?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure exactly how, but everything I’ve learned makes me conclude he was somehow involved. I knew Hans well. I suspect he would not have willingly passed on information, but someone close to him could have been using him.

Someone knew his soft spot. I’ve even suspected he was being blackmailed. So far we have no concrete proof. It’s an old story, especially in cases involving state secrets and espionage. This was similar, perhaps, though on a much smaller scale.

What I’m trying to say is that I believe someone got to him through his vulnerability in one area “And how did you come to this conclusion?”

“I don’t want to say right now, but, believe me, I would not be talking to you about this if I weren’t sure.” it in to the dry cleaner’s. No time now. She fluffed up the sofa, where she’d slept the night before. She saw it was time to change the slipcover from the white summer canvas to the blue and gray striped one for the winter season. The French balcony doors needed to be cleaned, too, but her visitor probably wouldn’t notice.

As she walked into the hall, she rearranged the plaid blanket over the armchair in front of the fireplace, and re-positioned the candlestick on the mantel. She checked the hallway once more, and removed the pile of mail, which had accumulated on the antique desk. She felt the hallway was now presentable, although she still ran her finger over the rim of the golden mirror frame and frowned at the dust.

She closed the door to the bedroom. Olle wouldn’t need to go there.

She herself seldom entered the three bedrooms down the hall unless she had to get something stored there. She had not yet started to redecorate the rooms of her three grown children. That would have to be a future project.

With some irritation, she closed the door to the library. It had been her favorite room in the house, but she hadn’t entered it since that day in May when Hans had passed away. Something was keeping her back. She just wasn’t ready yet.

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Kids Corner

Cool winter days out with the kids!

Do something fun together with the kids during the school holidays or the weekend. Hide those mobile phones, computers, pads and tablets and try something fun and exciting at some of the country’s most enjoyable days out! Why not challenge friends and family to a sumo fight? Or get experimenting together and learn something new? There are lots of fun things to do, so get out and about ...

Text: Children’s Editor

Dino-Doris giving a show at the Fossil and Evolution exhibition with knowledge-hungry children. Photo: Martin Stenmark

Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm Discover Sweden’s largest museum with the whole family and meet giant dinosaurs, test your senses and see animals and plants from all over the world. Be fascinated by the glittering stones from the earth’s interior and see our meteorites from the far reaches of outer space.

At the Museum of Natural History, you can also find Cosmonova, which shows films in the world’s largest film format. As you look up at the huge 760 square foot dome, you will be taken to fascinating places around the world and even go into outer space. Only for all the brave ones, aged five years and over.

Frescativägen 40, Frescati www.nrm.se

Children play ‘Police’ at the exhibition Police, Police ...

Photo: Linda Forsell

Polismuseet, Stockholm At the Police Museum, you’ll find the children’s exhibition: Police, Police ... where children can learn more about the police force in a playful way.

Search for lost property, play detective and solve exciting cases, dress up in a police uniform and play police. Drive a police motorbike or a police car with a communication radio! Also join in with our fun children’s exhibition about the police.

Museivägen 7, Gärdet www.polismuseet.se

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Kids Corner Malmö Museums Malmöhus (Malmö’s Castle) has an aquarium and many different exhibitions ongoing throughout the year. Nearby you will find Teknikens & Sjöfartens Hus (The Technical & Marine museum) and Kommendanthuset, built in 1786, which now houses an ecological café. Technology, science and experiments. A fun museum shop and playroom. Inventions, engines & a submarine!

CREATIVE WORKSHOP: THEATRE 27–28th December 12–16.

Make your own doll actors and create your own theatre drama.

FAIRY TALES IN THE CASTLE 5-6th January.

Starting from the giraffe at 13.00, 14.00 and 15.00. Join us as we walk through the fairy tale castle and see where the queen slept and dressed.

Maybe you will get to hear the story of why two magical horns were once placed at Malmöhus or how a girl got such a terrible pain from a tiny pea. Limited number of tickets. Tickets can be collected at the reception on the same day.

Malmöhusvägen, Malmö www.malmo.se/museer

Siggesta Gård’s food is modern and rustic with a focus on ecological and local products. Photo: Lina Eidenberg Adamo

Family Friday with sleepover in Värmdö Round off the week with a cosy family dinner in front of the fireplace.

Let Siggesta Gård set the table for you and serve a meal that will satisfy all the family. When everyone is fed and full, a luxurious accommodation awaits. At a special offer price, it’s a perfect end to the long working week and a great start to the weekend!

Siggesta Gård has a children’s playground, a forest obstacle course and woodland paths where trolls hide out. There are also alpacas, horses and hens resident all year round.

A double or family room cost 600-850 Kr / adult including breakfast.

Why not stay the whole weekend? Two nights cost 1,000 kr / adult.

Children in a separate bed cost 400 kr / night including breakfast.

Siggesta Gård, Värmdö, Stockholm www.siggestagard.se

Full speed ahead at Malmö’s Museums! Photo: Pressbild

Group activities in Farsta Challenge friends and family with these crazy fun games and activities.

It’s an excellent way to celebrate children’s birthday parties, weekends, family reunions or even just to spend a rainy or dull day! There is a variety of fun options that you can mix and match as you wish, to suit your group’s needs. Test your reaction skills with our moose game, practice your flexibility with Twister, wrestle in sumo-suits or box with giant boxing gloves. Super cool activities that stimulate both body and mind!

It doesn’t get more fun than this - Twister in Farsta. Photo: Adobe Stock

Mårbackagatan 31, Farsta, Stockholm spelapaintball.com MAGAZINE SWEDEN

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This year’s craziest game – guaranteed!

Take a deep breath, get ready and challenge friends, family and yourself with this game of unbeatable records. 20 incredible challenges and 600 world record questions help you collect points in this exciting board game.

Did we say ‘unbeatable’? Nothing is unbeatable in the Guinness World of Records. World records are made to be broken.

So get ready, set the timer and GO!

Available to buy online and in selected toy shops and book shops! www.algaspel.se

Barntipset

Full concentration needed when experimenting. Photo: Pressbild

Learn cool stuff at Cool Minds in Malmö Cool Minds is a world of science and play in Malmö. A massive play heaven where children’s and youngster’s curiosity and interest are stimulated to the max. Working together with well-trained and talented workshop leaders, the children are guided through a number of exciting educational workshops where they can learn everything from DNA analysis, IT and film skills to building their own robot. Children can attend different courses specific to their age group, come for a birthday party or try out activities spontaneously in our drop-in sessions. Our wide range of activity subjects include technology, programming, biology, chemistry, film and innovation. In our drop-in sessions, for example, you can visit our ceramic and light studio, look in microscope or create and build something using 3D pens.

The best way to learn is through play and having fun.

Norra Parkgatan 2, Folkets Park, Malmö www.coolminds.se

At Universeum, you can take a walk in the rainforest. Photo: Pressbild

Universeum, Gothenburg Universeum is the Nordic region’s largest science centre. Universeum’s mission is to positively influence children’s and adolescent’s attitude to science, technology and mathematics. If you have not yet been here - we highly recommend that you go. Universeum is open throughout the year!

There is a lot to see for children (and adults!) of all ages. Look for sharks in the aquarium or take a journey into space or walk in the rainforest and spot exotic birds and other small animals.

When you have finished exploring, take the elevator to the ground floor to find our playground and toys.

Södra vägen 50, Göteborg www.universeum.se

Vattenhallen Science Centre in Lund Vattenhallen or Water Science Centre is filled with fun experiences and experiments, activities and interactive exhibitions, as well as exciting experiments that you can try on your own. The staff will be happy to help you and explain and sometimes they even demonstrate things themselves! Within the large experiment hall is Lund’s Planetarium. When darkness falls over the planetarium, the stars start to shine and you can take a trip through outer space. Sit down, look out into our universe and get to know the world full of stars, planets, galaxies and comets. The planetarium’s own astronomer is available throughout the viewing and will be happy to answer any questions at the end of the show.

John Ericssons väg 1, Lund Almost like being in outer space for real! Photo: Fojab Architects

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www.vattenhallen.lth.se

Barntipset

At Åbybadet, enter a world of fun with a big splash! Photo: Pressbild

Waterslides in Mölndal At Åbybadet, children can splash, swim and enjoy crazy waterslides.

Older children can take on the 3 different waterslides with differing twists and turns. Whist smaller children can enjoy the jungle lagoon, a pool with a water depth of 20-40 cm, perfect for splashing about in. The lagoon has smaller waterslides and water sprays. There is also a 34-degree pool for children who want to learn to swim or for baby and parent swimming or for those like to swim in warm water!

Idrottsvägen 9, Mölndal www.molndal.se/abybadet

Meet Alfie and his friends at their place in Trädgårdsförening.

Photo: Pressbild

Alfons Åbergs Kulturhus The National Museum of World Culture is full of exciting experiences.

Photo: Pressbild

Världskulturmuseet The National Museum of World Culture continuously has various events for small children: musicals, singing, dancing and other activities. The museum itself though is more aimed at an older audience with interesting exhibitions and events and current issues from around the world, are taken up by the museum throughout the year.

For the youngest children, there are various events during the year, for example, ‘More Mosaics’ where the children can explore the world of mosaics, or why not try ‘Bäbisdisco’ baby disco every other Friday.

Alfie Atkins lives in the Old Seed Shop in Trädgårdsförening, Gothenburg (The Garden Society of Gothenburg) and is perfect for children up to 8 years old. Children can crawl, play, climb and take part in creative activities. You may recognise Alfie from Gunilla Bergström’s books, such as Alfies helicopter, reading corner and living room. You will also surely recognise his friend Millan, Mållgan and his Grandma. There are 3-4 activities per day such as story-telling, theatre, music and other children’s activities.

Trädgårdsföreningen – Centrum www.alfonskulturhus.se

Södra Vägen 54, Göteborg www.världskulturmuseet.se MAGAZINE SWEDEN

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It is we who have the equipments!

Repair of windscreens

Polish scratches in glas without optical refraction

Headlights restoration

054-530 227 | www.glasweld.se

Out of sight, out of mind Contact our advertising department on telephone +46 707-17 30 50 or Email: annons@magasingruppen.se

Sverige magasinet Sveriges STÖRSTA tidning

om turism och nöjen

FYRKLÖVERNS STUGBY live in wonderful nature overlooking Siljan 80 cottages, 3-6 beds, 21-46m2.

Walking distance to Siljan and Rättvik city center - with shops, restaurants, bowling alley and swimming pool. Golf course 3 km.

Many events and activities.

Low season rates untill W.24.

Open all year.

Onlinebooking

www.stugby.se 0248-107 65

VISBY INNER CITY APARTMENTS & ROOMS Experience Visby in winter and spring from 725 SEK Stay in the middle of the world heritage city

Can you grow paint?

Yes, and that’s what we do. Linseed can be pressed into oil and when mixed with pigment you get linseed oil paint. Good on wood, good for the environment and better for you. It’s cheaper per square meter too, which is an added benefit.

www.ottossonfarg.com Eksholmen farm

Industry & Development

Compress and save space 72

MAGAZINE SWEDEN

Industry & Development

Scanwaste compresses waste products, cardboard packaging and boxes, plastic, wood and glass. Haven’t we all had those experiences with that bulky packaging that just won’t fit into the dustbin?

E

nergy efficiency within companies is growing and not just in big industries such as restaurants and catering, but also in smaller companies that are prepared to think one step ahead. Waste compression is good for the environment because it requires less transportation. Scanwaste brings the latest design and technology to retailers and transporters throughout Sweden.

As a result, the requirements for transport vehicles needed for removing waste can now be reduced to one tenth of the original load, something that saves time and energy as well as improving safety and working conditions.

We spoke to Lasse Flygt, Marketing Manager and Head of Sales at Scanwaste for the last 10 years.

– Solar-powered rubbish bins that automatically compress the rubbish and glass-chewing machines. It sounds like something out of a Hogwart’s mystery, but it’s for real says Lasse Flygt.

– Today we are seeing an increasing number of rubbish bins with solar cells on the lid.

The reason is simple, the bin uses the solar energy to power a sensor that calculates when the container is full and thus optimises the collection logistics for those responsible for emptying the bin. With our PEL solar bin, it can even compress the waste so that 2-3 times more waste will fit into the container. The fact that it’s a great design and has a foot pedal so that you don’t even have to get your hands dirty, is just a bonus!

You are working with compression alongside recycling. Explain what that means?

– Everything transported around the world needs to be packed in a way that best optimises the available space on the vehicle. Our machines compress waste products so that the air is removed, this reduces the volume of the load considerably, making transportation of waste products more effective. When you put the

waste into a compactor, it is squeezed into the container at high pressure. Consequently, the container can take more waste than without this compressing force. We sell Bergmann compression equipment that is well known for its high quality and fewer breakdowns. Only Bergmann has a self-cleaning function that allows the press plate to automatically clean the throw-over blade, so that all the material gets into the container. If you need to dispose of your waste at the production stage or want the compressor indoors, we recommend a Nättraby baler or a Bergmann Rotopack.

Nättraby balers are manufactured by a Swedish family-run company of several generations in Ronneby. These machines are much more superior to other products on the market!

A Nättraby baler is driven electromechanically instead of hydraulically or pneumatically. It does not require oil and therefore it does not leak and it is largely insensitive to heat or cold.

You can place a Nättraby anywhere, even as an example, close to a floor drain. A Nättraby will not contaminate the wastewater! The fact that the machine is really quiet and can be close at hand to staff are additional benefits. An electric motor operates almost noisily, so all that you hear are the cartons are being pressed together, instead of a noisy pump and hydraulic cylinder.

Tell us a little about the needs of your customers?

– Our customer’s needs vary widely. They may have problems with organic waste which can range from food or slaughter waste to production overspill. If the waste contains water, higher demands are placed on the machine and container to be watertight and this is when the quality of the machine becomes important.

In this instance you want the machine to keep tight year after year. Otherwise there will be sanitary problems with odours and spillage.

– No restaurant or business wants its customers to come into contact with nasty odours or birds and rats. In Industries and businesses where the goods are delivered on wooden pallets, we have a different set of problems. It is partly that they are bulky and take up a lot of

space and also you are rarely allowed to stack them near the property due to a risk of fire. In this situation we suggest the original Bergmann Roll-Packer which is the best machine for wood but equally good for cardboard, brushwood, packaging and scrap wood etc. If you have ever visited a state-run recycling centre to dispose of your waste, you have probably already seen our machines. There is nothing better!

What kind of customers do you have?

– Our customers are Bauhaus, Ica, Volvo, Coop, SJ and others. We have our machines all over Sweden ranging from small businesses and large shopping centres, for example the Mall of Scandinavia in Stockholm. We have about 5000 machines in operation in Sweden and many are over 20 years old and still working.

How does servicing and support work on your products?

– We have been in the industry for nearly 20 years and have a network of skilled technicians. We do not require service and repair be done internally, but we often use a team of trustworthy technicians who are close by to our customers. This is better and cheaper for our customers. We don’t want any unsafe diagnoses and repairs. Recently Scanwaste signed Byggmax to provide service in Sweden, Norway and Finland.

Which is the most popular product?

– The unique Bergmann APB 607 self-cleaning compactor, but in terms of volume it’s Nättraby balers. Bergmann sells its machines World-wide as does Nättraby.

Text: Editor Photo: Scanways För mer information: www.bergmann-online.com/en/products/ps-8100 www.nattrabypressen.com/ www.bergmann-online.com/en/products/rp-7700

MAGAZINE SWEDEN

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There is only one Roll-Packer ÂŽ

25-27 SEPTEMBER 2 018

Meet us at booth A07:43 Bergmann has both invented and developed Roll-Pack and, thanks to more than 40 years of experience, we have learned the weaknesses.

If you buy an original Bergmann Roll-Packer, you know that it lasts!

Nothing is better for bulky waste or materials for recycling.

+46 31 150050 • www.scanwaste.se

the accordion of the future

Order your free catalogue on +46 300 54 51 19 Or download it at

www.dragspelsguiden.se

Meetingpoints

Above: Illustration of the building. Below left: there is a lot to see and experience in Mariestad. Visiting the guest harbour in Mariestad and settling down with a locally produced ice cream is one of the highlights. To the right: Andreas and Georg Häselbarth visit the place of Dinners in Mariestad.

Dinners expands and opens in Mariestad

Dinners establish in Mariestad and plans for a new kind of meeting point with several activities in the same local area. The location is strategically located at the southern entrance to the city centre and it is easy to stay on the way to or from Mariestad.

D

inners have decided to settle at Sydport Mariestad at the strategic junction E20 and highway 26 in Mariestad.

Besides that, the company has operations in four locations in Sweden; Enköping, Arboga, Ödeshög and Gävlebro.

- We are establishing ourselves in more locations around Sweden, starting in Mariestad,” says Andreas Häselbarth, CEO of Dinners.

Dinners work with leading companies around Europe, embracing the latest trends from those countries that have extensive experience in developing the tourism industry. It will be a new kind of meeting point with more activities in the same room.

In addition to the restaurant, there will be a modern coffeeshop with a Deli shop, a solarium

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MAGAZINE SWEDEN

shop and a modern low-cost hotel and a gas station. The concept also includes the installation of charging posts, which is part of tomorrow’s new service station.

It happens a lot at Mariestad’s southern entrance, Sydport says the municipality’s business executive Mats Widhage. In addition to well-known fast food chains, there is one of Sweden’s five first hydrogen gas tank stations.

In addition to the gas station, a solar cell park has been built. The solar energy generated will be used to produce hydrogen for refueling fuel cell cars and store solar energy. Mariestad becomes the first in the world with this unique solution.

MARIESTAD - THE TOURIST CITY

Mariestad is the small town that battles in nature experiences and quality of life. Sweden’s blue band Götakanal meets northern Europe’s largest lake Vänern here - and beyond the

14-mile coast, the archipelago islands count in tens of thousands. Staying in ​​Mariestad is to pause life at its best. Here you stroll around the hilly cobbled streets of the Old Town, enjoy local-made ice cream and participate in the hilarious hamlet life. Or relax with a quality beer from one of the neighbourhood’s microbreweries.

Mariestad’s beer tradition continues today in a row of shady brews in the town’s restaurants. With the magnificent nature in front of the feet, the area is ideal for outdoor activities both on foot and by boat, and for the active one expects a variety of experiences to choose from. Here you will find good paddling and fishing waters, adventurous hiking trails and paths that provide experiences beyond the usual - not least along the Götakanal.

Text: Redaktionen Photo: Tuana

LISA FRESH FISH AND FOOD ONLINE

How much we still see you visit us in Ă–stermalmshallen, we also understand that your time is not always enough.

That is why Lisa Elmqvist's e-commerce is available. With amazing fresh ingredients, ready-made fish, meat, menus, food boxes, gifts, recipes, and more, you can shop online and get delivery to your home, office, job or even abroad.

Our e-commerce, Mat Online, can be found through our website: lisaelmqvist.se.

It's easy and fun to shop there just as we want it to be with us in real life. And do not think that the knowledge and quality will be missing just because you shop online. On the contrary, it is available 24 hours a day. When it suits you.

www.lisaelmqvist.se

”The Producers + Spamalot + The Book of Mormon.

I kvadrat!” New York Magazine

”A big fat hit” New York Post

EUROPEAN PREMIERE in Karlstad The Broadway Hit Musical