Swedish master Ingmar Bergman penned this loving tribute to his parent’s epic romance. In 1909, poor, idealistic theology student Henrik Bergman falls in love with Anna Åkerbloom, the intelligent, educated daughter of a rich family in Uppsala. After their wedding Henrik becomes a priest in the north of Sweden. Urbane Anna can’t stand living in the rural county and grows increasingly restless. She returns to Uppsala and the couple’s love and commitment are put to the test.
The Cultural Heritage through Image project was born out of a pedagogical experiment applying the principles of cultural heritage to teach the premodern and out the personal belief in the art and power of photography. Project leader Dr. Kisha Tracy is Associate Professor of English Studies at Fitchburg State University, specializing in medieval and early world literatures. In addition, she is an amateur photographer. When traveling as a medievalist and premodern scholar, she photographs the sites she visits. Cultural Heritage through Image developed out of the realization that this photography was informed by the expertise of the photographer and communicated much about the significance of its subjects.
The focus of the project is to parallel through image the ancient to medieval cultural heritage stories from other countries, particularly in Europe, to the cultural heritage stories of local communities, particularly centered on New England. Students and community members select premodern cultural heritage they wish to study from a photo taken by Tracy. After researching this initial heritage, they then explore the purpose, function, and deeper meanings of this heritage in order to connect it to local heritage with similar characteristics. Contributors create their own researched exhibition notes, focused on the connections they have made, that are included in the digital exhibition of the project. Photographs of the local heritage are taken by students, community members, and Tracy. This physical exhibition is unique in that the notes are highlighted as much as the images. Participants in the project have included students at Fitchburg State, community members from various New England cities, Boys and Girls Club students, historical societies, and libraries. In the exhibition here at the Scandinavian Cultural Center, the entries are all focused on Scandinavian medieval cultural heritage.
In this exhibition, ideas about overarching concepts of cultural heritage are clearly evident. Contributors note how the values of cultures are encapsulated by cultural heritage and ways these values of different time periods can be analyzed, particularly through image.
On display through January 2020. (email for viewing times)
It’s the summer of 1980, and Björn Borg is the top tennis player in the world, dominating the sport both on and off the court. A powerful and rigorously disciplined player, there is only one obstacle in his pursuit of a record-breaking fifth Wimbledon championship: the highly talented but ferociously abrasive young American John McEnroe. With three days until the tournament begins, Borg trains religiously in his lavish Monaco home, aided by his coach and mentor Lennart and girlfriend Mariana.
Saturday, February 15th | 1:30 | Free; $5 suggested donation
100 minutes. In English, Spanish, Swedish, French, German with English subtitles.
Films start at 1:30pm. Refreshments for attendees are served at 1pm. Lunch (not included) is available in the Kaffestugan, which is open until 3pm every Saturday.
An 80-year-old Finnish farmer who reluctantly goes to live with his youngest son and his uptight, career-oriented wife following a debilitating domestic accident. A proud man who takes deep pride in his ability to remain self-sufficient, the aging farmer (Antti Litja) lives in the countryside alone after his wife is hospitalized. His days are spent tilling the fields until an accident leaves in need of medical assistance. As the son travels back to the farm to gather up some belongings, the old man arrives in Helsinki, where his Type-A daughter-in-law obviously resents his presence. And the feeling is mutual, too; both the farmer and his son’s wife are completely set in their ways, and any deviation from their daily routine is unwelcome at best. From the moment the aging curmudgeon arrives in the city, it’s apparent he’s out of his element. Meanwhile his constant meddling not only threatens to derail an important business deal being brokered by his daughter-in-law, but begins to put a serious strain on his son’s marriage as well. Later, it becomes increasingly obvious that the ornery octogenarian harbors some painful secrets made all-the-more problematic by his stubborn refusal to address them.
Saturday, March 21st | 1:30 | Free; $5 suggested donation
104 minutes. In English, Finnish and Russian with English subtitles.
Films start at 1:30pm. Refreshments for attendees are served at 1pm. Lunch (not included) is available in the Kaffestugan, which is open until 3pm every Saturday.
Two unlucky-in-love brothers, a veterinarian, a conceptual artist, and two goth 13-year-olds named Danni are just a few of the characters that makes up the ensemble of this charming Icelandic film about longing, love, and growing up.
Saturday, January 18th | 1:30 | Free; $5 suggested donation
89 minutes. In Icelandic with English subtitles.
Films start at 1:30pm. Refreshments for attendees are served at 1pm. Lunch (not included) is available in the Kaffestugan, which is open until 3pm every Saturday.
Birgit Nilsson, the Swedish Dramatic Soprano who tamed Richard Wagner, was a league of her own. 2018 celebrated her centenary. Her voice reverberated against the walls of the world’s greatest opera houses for nearly 40 years. She was best known for her performances in the operas of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss.
Come and enjoy local opera expert Erika Reitshamer’s audiovisual tribute to this great Swedish soprano whose accomplishments in the world of opera are unequaled.
Saturday, Januay 25, 2019, 1-2:30 pm | $15; $7 for SCC members
ABOUT ERIKA: Erika Reitshamer, born and educated in Germany, is a passionate and lifelong fan of opera. She was active in the formation of the Boston Lyric Opera Co. more than 40 years ago. As Vice President of the Boston Wagner Society, she presented lectures, organized concerts, and promoted visiting scholars. She is a board member of the New England Opera Club and teacher of opera appreciation for LLARC at Regis College, Sharon and Sherborn Lifelong Education. Her last presentation for SCC was Mozart’s MAGIC FLUTE – “Trollflötjen.
Join the Saga Thing podcast for a live presentation as John and Andy sort out the story of the Vikings in the New World. The legendary adventures of the Vinland settlers lead us to the modern search for evidence of Viking settlements from Dighton Rock to the Charles River and from Massachusetts to Newfoundland. Learn the story of how, where, and why Scandinavian explorers made their way West–a saga a thousand years in the making!
Friday, January 31st | 7pm | free with registration
Brothers Lawrence Wilde and Charles Boguinia come together to present a program of piano music by Edward Grieg and new new compositions for the Swedish nyckelharpa, violin and piano inspired by Swedish and Norwegian Folk music.
Lawrence is a composer, violinist and nyckelarhap player. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Juilliard School and is currently a Ph.D. Candidate at Princeton University. Charles is a pianist and composer, he studied piano at the New School in NYC with Vladimir Feltsman and is currently completing his Ph.D. in Boston.
The Voices of Scandinavia program will feature piano works by Edvard Grieg and new compositions for nyckelharpa, violin and piano composed by Lawrence Wilde. The concert is the culmination Lawrence’s artistic research of Scandinavian folk music and the Swedish nyckelharpa. Last year Lawrence spent a year studying and researching Scandinavian folk music and new music in Stockholm Sweden.
His research resulted in the release of two albums:
Fossegrim for re-tuned violin (inspired by Norwegian folklore and different hardanger fiddle tunings)
and
Pendulum for nychelharpa (exploring the Swedish nyckelharpa)
Lawrence fell so much in love with the nyckelharpa that he acquired one from Olle Plahn, a well-known maker of the instrument in Sweden and brought the nyckelharpa back with him to the US!
The Voices of Scandinavia concert will open with a pre-concert discussion about Scandinavian folk music and a demonstration of the Swedish nyckelharpa.
Saturday, February 8th | 1pm | $15; FREE for SCC Members
Hidden between a row of fishermen gutting fish, standing on a floor full of blood and intestines, we find nine-year-old Tobias in front of a big box filled with cod heads. With an almost frightening pace, he cuts the tongues from the heads, and puts them on a big nail.
Many other children work as cod tongue cutters, and Tobias’ girlfriend Ylva and her friend will spend their winter up North to learn the art of cod tongue cutting. The girls are also eager to attend the World Championship of cod tongue cutting, where the child cutting the most tongues in two minutes becomes the new World Champion.
“A disarmingly charming doc about some of Norway’s surprisingly independent youth.” — WF
83 minutes; in Norwegian with English subtitles
Saturday, January 4th | 1pm| $5; free for SCC Members
