Suzanne Matson is a poet, author and English Professor at Boston College. She holds an MA in Creative Writing and a PhD in English from the University of Washington. The lecture entitled, “Writing the Finnish-American Story” is based on her finding that audiences are interested in talking about the process of turning personal and public history into literature. She will also read from her works and take questions.
Finlandia Foundation Boston is celebrating National Sauna Week with our second annual mobile sauna event on Saturday and Sunday February 25-26th, 2023.
A Traditional Wood Fired Sauna Experience
Abundance Sauna will be at the Scandinavian Cultural Center in Newton, celebrating National Sauna Week Friday thru Sunday February 24-26, 2023.
There are many sessions available each day starting as early as 10am. The cost for each one hour session is $65 regardless of the number of people in your party. The sauna comfortably accommodates 3 people at once. A session is 50 minutes of heat and 10 minutes for turn over. You are welcome to book consecutive available sessions for a longer sauna experience.
Daring souls are invited to experience the thrill of thermal extremes with a dip in the cold plunge tank or if mother nature supports us… some snow angels.
Afterwards relax around the fire pit to share stories of sauna adventure while enjoying tasty snacks.
Each participant must provide their own towels, swimsuits and hydration.
Preregistration is required. An welcome/orientation packet will be sent and a liability waiver must be signed by each participant.
If you have Sauna specific questions
Mark@gotsauna.com
For more information about Finlandia Foundation Boston
www.Finlandiafoundationboston.com
This event is supported by Finlandia Foundation National
www.Finlandiafoundation.org
A sudden change forces Karin to re-evaluate her life. With the help of friends, food and passion, she refuses to accept that life has an expiration date and takes the second chance she is given. In Swedish with English subtitles.
presented as part of the Scandinavian Library’s film series.
In Swedish with English subtitles | 102 mins
Saturday, February 11th, 2023 | 1:30 pm | $10;$5 for SCC and Library members | tickets
Oskar Stenmark is coming back to Scandinavian Cultural Center with new music; original compositions by Oskar and also the premiere of a brand new multi sensory project with ties to Oskar’s family history.
ABOUT OSKAR Stenmark has a Master’s Degree from Manhattan School of Music and is based out of New York City.
Saturday, February 18th, 2023 | 1pm | $15; $7 for members of the SCC | tickets
Martin Hedmark was a young Swedish architect who came to the United States in late 1924 to launch his career, primarily as an ecclesiastical architect for Swedish congregations and cultural institutions in America. His first commission was for Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Providence. This unique building is an expression of two distinct early 20th Century Nordic architectural styles, the first, National Romantism was being supplanted by the second, Nordic Classicism, or Swedish Grace, around the time that Hedmark emigrated to the U.S. This lecture by Massachusetts architect Eric Inman Daum, will explore in depth Hedmark’s designs for Gloria Dei and touch upon other projects in New York, Worcester, Philadelphia and suburban New Jersey.
Daum, founding president of the New England Chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art and a current board member, will discuss how these two Early Modern architectural styles exhibited in Hedmark’s work drew upon Swedish architectural history to address the demands of an increasingly industrialized and urbanized Sweden. Just as the Postmodern architects of the 1980s turned to History and ornament as a reaction to the corporate austerity of Mid-Century Modernism, the Nordic Classicists sought to reconcile their native architectural traditions with a developing modern state.
Evi, Finland’s most experienced karaoke hostess, wants to hug her customers’ pain away. With thousands of bars and kilometres behind her, yet again she packs her equipment and travels through the northern landscapes of Finland.
Places. People. Songs sung like a liberation, fragments of happiness, memories that are sometimes funny, sometimes painful. These moments of life are captured on camera during karaoke performances throughout the Finnish landscape. Joy and melancholy merge in this film’s friendly approach, which will leave a lasting impression on its audience.
Saturday, February 25th | 1pm | $10; $5 for members | tickets
When Baldvin and Inga’s next-door neighbors complain that a tree in the couple’s backyard casts a shadow over their sun deck, what starts off as a typical spat between suburbanites soon spirals violently and unexpectedly out of control.
presented as part of the Scandinavian Library’s film series.
Saturday, January 14th | 1:30 | $10; $5 for members of the SCC and Scandinavian Library | tickets
The elk hunt has always had a sacred aura to the people in Engerdal, a small village in Norway. The hunt for the biggest animal in the forest brings the hunters closer together and creates the annual main event in the village. Sigrid is moving back home after studies in Oslo. She is hunting together with her father, but she is not sure if she wants to shoot the beautiful animal. Halvard and Nelly are seasoned hunters facing other challenges. The Elk Forest is an intimate story, exploring the need to feel belonging in a fragile, shrinking community.
The elk hunt has always had a sacred aura to the people living in Engerdal, a small village in Norway. The hunt for the biggest animal in the forest brings the hunters closer to each other, and creates the yearly main event in the village. Sigrid has hunted elk for years, but is still not sure if she actually wants to shoot the beautiful animal. She’s hunting with her father, Geir, who is faithfully doing everything he can to facilitate for his daughter’s first kill. Sigrid is moving home after studies in Oslo, hoping to be able to combine life as a professional folk-musician with the life close to nature in her home village.
Halvard has hunted for a lifetime. He is starting to feel his body ageing, but it will take a lot of him to put his rifle away for good. Giving up the hunt is a bit like letting go of a part of yourself.
Nelly was one of the first female hunters in the village. Now she has prosthesis in both of her knees, and can barely walk, but declares that “as long as the will to hunt is greater than my wits, I will continue to hunt”.
The Elk Forest is an intimate and warm story, exploring the need to feel a sense of belonging in a fragile, shrinking community.
Saturday, January 21st, 2023 | 1pm | $10; $5 for members | tickets
DIRECTOR Ane Helga Lykka
Ane (b. 1986) grew up in the small village Engerdal deep inside the forests of Eastern Norway. She has studied social antropology at Oslo University, and documentary film at European Film College in Denmark and ZeLIG school for documentary, television and new media in Italy. Since 2013 she has worked as a director and editor in TV. Her graduation film Anderswo was screened at Trento Filmfest, Bozner filmtage and RAI Südtirol.
Kris lives with her partly disabled uncle in rural Denmark and together they run a small farm. In their quirky yet loving relationship built around daily routines, words aren’t necessary. Kris is the dominant workhorse and she has taken on a motherly and overprotective role towards her uncle. When Kris saves a calf during a complicated birth, her interest in the veterinary field is reawakened. She develops a friendship with the chatty veterinarian Johannes and slowly experiences life outside the farm. As love crosses her path, a possible life-changing question emerges.
Bevin Holmberg, aka Mermaid Meadow, brings her charming artwork to our Nordic Hall for her exhibit titled Enkel Glädje: Simple Joy.
Bevin is an artist living and working in Falmouth, Maine. She is the daughter of a woodworker and a painter. She obtained a B.F.A. in Studio Art from James Madison University in Virginia, with a concentration in alternative process photography. She also holds a Master of Education in Art from the University of Minnesota, and finished the program with summer study at Säterglänten Institute for Slöjd (traditional handicrafts) in Insjön and Stockholm, Sweden. While in Minnesota, she lived and participated in the Tilsner Artist Cooperative in St. Paul, worked as a sign painter, and taught drawing lessons to elementary-age students.
“I moved to the beautiful state of Maine (2010), and as an artist, was inspired by its rustic charm. I have a deep appreciation for traditional art practices, and studying in Sweden furthered my attachment to Scandinavian design. Two lessons I learned at Säterglänten were the importance of traditional handicraft, and the necessity of Fika. In my art practice, I am illustrating aspects of life that one might find interesting. I see personality in nature, and I am especially interested in pattern. For me, art does not need to be complicated if it brings someone joy.”
On display November 3rd, 2022 -December 2022 | Opening reception Thursday, November 3rd 6-8pm | register here
Bevin is an artist living and working in Falmouth, Maine. She is the daughter of a woodworker and a painter. She obtained a B.F.A. in Studio Art from James Madison University in Virginia, with a concentration in alternative process photography. She also holds a Master of Education in Art from the University of Minnesota, and finished the program with summer study at 