Glimpse of Nordic culture through festival

Maija Kauhanen / Courtesy of Sidance

By Yun Suh-young

"The Northern Lights," the Nordic Culture Festival which introduces the cultures and arts of four Scandinavian countries _ Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden _ will be held from Nov. 24 to 30 at the JCC Art Center and JCC Creative Center in Hyehwa-dong, Seoul.

The festival will be comprehensive in showcasing the cultures of the four countries, expressed through music, movies, children's plays, books and photography.

Beginning with a joint opening performance on Nov. 24, various joint performances will be held on Nov. 25 and 26, while from Nov. 27, each country will showcase their own cultural performances beginning with Denmark, followed by Finland (Nov. 28), Norway (Nov. 29) and Sweden (Nov. 30). The joint performances will be held by Northern Assembly (Denmark), Maija Kauhanen (Finland), Hakon Kornstad (Norway), and Emil Brandqvist Trio (Sweden) on Nov. 24 and 25, while on Nov. 26, Emil Brandqvist Trio, Inger Marie (Norway), and Maija Kauhanen and Birgitte Soojin (Denmark) will perform.

Artists from each country will be representing their nations for the daily performances.

The Danish representatives are Birgitte Soojin, a Korean adoptee to Denmark and a jazz vocalist who has been nominated twice at the Danish Grammy Awards, and Northern Assembly, a band that merges Scandinavian and British musical traditions into a neo-folk sound.

Finland's representative is Maija Kauhanen who plays the Finnish traditional instrument kantele and won the 2011 International Solo Kantele Competition and is also a vocalist.

Representing Norway are Inger Marie, a well-known jazz vocalist who has a loyal group of fans in Korea, and Hakon Kornstad, jazz saxophonist and opera tenor who has been nominated several times for the Norway Grammy Awards.

Three groups of artists representing Sweden will participate _ Emil Brandqvist Trio, Cherrie and Beatrice Eli. Emil Brandqvist Trio was selected as part of "The A-List: Jazz" on Apple Music with "While We Are Here" which recorded 500,000 views, and the group's third album "Falling Crystals" topped the German jazz chart JPC for three consecutive weeks. Rising Somali-Swedish R&B star Cherrie won an award for hip-hop/soul this year and singer-songwriter Beatrice Eli won the best pop award at the Swedish radio broadcasting station P3's gala concert.

Throughout Nov. 24 to 30, movie screenings, photo exhibitions and book clubs will be offered. Movies include "Antboy" and "Noma: My Perfect Storm" from Denmark, "Kanelia kainaloon, Tatu ja Patu!" and "Risto Rappaaja ja Liukas Lennart" from Finland, "Kurt blir Grusom” (Kurt Turns Evil), "Isdraken” (Ice Dragon), and "En Man Som Heter Ove” (A Man Called Ove) from Sweden, among others.

The photography exhibition "Human and Nature" features Finnish photographer Konsta Punkka's works on Nov. 25 at 6:30 p.m. and Norwegian photographer Pal Hermansen's works on Nov. 29 at 6:30 p.m. followed by talks with the photographers.

The Nordic Book Club will take place at Exhibition Halls 3 and 4 of the JCC Art Center showcasing books from the four Nordic countries for children and adults. Book readings and character booths will be available.

On the final day, the Swedish children's play "Good night my friends" will be performed by Teater Tre twice at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

All programs are offered for free and are available after prior reservation through nordicfest.kr. For more information, visit nordicfest.kr or publicdiplomacy.go.kr or call 02)3216-1185.

Through the festival, the organizing committee expects to enhance understanding and interest in Nordic culture among Koreans and further strengthen the relationship between Korea and these countries. The festival is hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and sponsored by the Embassies of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden in Korea.