Category: Culture

In parts of the Finnish music world, Finnish Swedishness is not necessarily considered to be relevant, and thus a large number of Finnish Swedish musicians fly under the radar and are mainly defined as Finnish. Exceptions are music that directly and deliberately target a Finnish-Swedish audience, such as many “dance bands” (dansband) and groups that…

For more than a hundred years, Svenska Teatern (The Swedish Theater) in the city center of Helsinki has been called Finland’s Swedish national scene, but its history extends further back in time than that. When the theater was originally founded in 1827, it was the very first theater house in the city of Helsinki, and…

Internationally, Svenskfinland is probably best known for its contributions to literature. Of course, Moomin is by far the largest export of Finnish literature, but it is far from the only one. In 2019, poet Tua Forsström was elected to The Swedish Academy as the first Finnish member ever, while Kjell Westö won prizes in both…

In Finnish art history, the Finnish Swedes are well represented. The period known as the golden age of Finnish art began in the second half of the 19th century and is considered to have lasted until about 1920. Many of this era’s best known artists were Finnish Swedes: Elin Danielson-Gambogi, Albert Edelfelt, Akseli Gallen-Kallela (born…