"Your view on Swedish art" // LUND UNIVERSITY - Swedish Art in a Scandinavian Context

What do I know? (formative assessment)

I want you to write a paper describing your view of Swedish art. Is it something very unfamiliar and maybe exotic for you, or familiar and something that you already know a little about? Is there something particular about Swedish art you are interested in and want to learn more about? A kind of self-reflection on your position in relation to Swedish art today.

Some may say there is no much to say about Swedish art as it is traditional, old perhaps and forgotten. Some may point out that Swedish design is something more interesting to learn about, but yet where the design comes from? From early beginnings – Swedish folk art, for example - the Dalarna horses. I’m not familiar with names and labels of traditional Swedish art, but from my personal travelling around Sweden, I have observed handcraft artwork being colourful. It even reminds me of some Slavic art sense. Yet that’s the Swedish arts trump – Sweden has been Sweden for decades and years, historically it has saved itself to not be influenced and taken over by other culture so much. Therefore, we can guess why such progress in the design field. In my observations, I think Sweden has little bit forgotten of their tradition because it’s already seen and Swedish are known for their desire of new. There are people who still will go and find handmade old-fashioned traditional art, there are modernists who want to buy the Dalarna horse but not in its traditional colours, but modern black, white, and grey. 

Swedish art may not be exotic to me, as I am very close by – Latvia, but yet what I have noticed and learnt about Swedish art in comparison of my own native land’s art, is that it has more colours, more sense of ‘free’ expression. Our colours are seen more designed in traditional folk costumes from some parts of Latvia. Quite interesting how Swedish art in today’s world is known as simple, black and white, and grey tones design, but yet handmade craft art had more colours. Wooden crafts may differ from my native country’s woodcrafts, or ceramic, pots, cups, even the interior of countryside houses. Latvian’s didn’t have many colours, everything was ‘earthy’ and darker tones. Perhaps I have not seen much enough but form my superficial observations without deeper research I am claiming. Traditional art – handcrafts have been practical for everyday life the same as in my country. In history not always Sweden has been a rich and wealthy country, therefore it might be that Swedish folk art brought colours in to brighten up the grey mood? Perhaps I will learn about it more in the following classes. 

I want to learn about Swedish art in a way to understand where that turning point to design was. How the traditional art became design. How Sweden became modernist. And how through art Sweden keeps their identity, what is Swedish? As I have explored Sweden from up and down, I find it interesting now to learn about things I have seen but not known and understood. I guess it’s the identity question of visual the most I want to learn about. 

What do I know? Not much enough, as going to the museums and galleries I don’t see often Swedish artists, but western culture artists. The world speaks a lot about Swedish design, interior, fashion, but not about art. And why is that?