Editor: Lena Jörgensson - Phone: +46-8-789 24 09 Fax: +46-8-789 24 50 E-mail: [email protected]
Editor: Lena Jörgensson - Phone: +46-8-789 24 09 Fax: +46-8-789 24 50
E-mail: [email protected]
| July 1998
Stockholm gears up for the new millennium
Cycle guides on the road again Orrefors centenary PREVIOUS NEWS May '98 |
Stockholm gears up for the new
millennium
The City of Stockholm and local businesses are making a joint investment in a spectacular celebration of the new millennium. The city is planning a new winter festival for Stockholmers with strong support from the business community, which is contributing 100 million kronor for a festival running over several days. The climax will come on New Year’s Eve 1999, when the 20th century gives way to the 21st and the new millennium. Plans for the celebration were announced at a press conference on 12 June given by Provincial Governor Ulf Adelsohn; Stockholm’s Mayor, Mats Hulth; and Pelle Törnberg from the MTG media group. "It’s only natural that the festivities will centre around the Old Town, because the whole of that area of the city is a history book," commented festival organiser Caj Malmros, previously the man behind the Stockholm Water Festival. "Stockholm organisations, theatres and museums will all be involved in drawing up the programme, and visitors can count on a fantastic display of fireworks," Malmros promised. The organisers have studied how other countries in Europe, including Paris, are planning to mark the new millennium. They have also looked at New Year traditions in the USA, where a number of cities celebrate First Night. Many festival events will take place in the city centre, for example at the Cultural Centre which will become a giant ballroom. Local events in other parts of the city are also being planned. "A big New Year celebration with a wide-ranging
festival programme could become an annual tradition which will be highly
popular for Stockholmers and visitors alike," comments Sven Lorentzi,
in charge of special events at Stockholm Information Service. Stockholm on show throughout Europe This summer Stockholm is being marketed as Cultural
Capital of Europe in 50 of Europe’s biggest cities. The campaign
runs from mid-June till mid-August and is based on 1,000 posters which
are being placed on behalf of the City of Stockholm by ARE JC Decaux,
one of Europe’s biggest outdoor-advertising specialists. The cities
include Copenhagen; Helsinki; 15 cities in Germany, including Hamburg,
Munich and Stuttgart; Amsterdam; 15 cities in Belgium including Brussels;
10 cities in France including Paris; Luxembourg; London; Lisbon; five
cities in Spain including Madrid; Bratislava; and Prague. The first posters
are appearing in Germany in mid-June, and the campaign finishes in Spain
and France in mid-August. The advertising campaign coincides with a variety
of other activities in which Stockholm is involved around Europe, for
instance Stockholm Information Service’s co-operation with SAS in
which Stockholm is also being marketed as Cultural Capital of Europe.
Many international newspapers are running articles about Stockholm and
the Cultural Capital year, and the city is hosting large numbers of international
media visitors. On 4 June a large-scale (1:25) model of Stockholm City
Hall was inaugurated at Mini-Europe, the EU theme park in Brussels. London buys the Stockholm Card Stockholm Information Service’s subsidiary company, Destination Stockholm AB, has signed an exclusive agreement with the British company Good Time Promotion, which is drawing up plans for a London equivalent of the Stockholm Card on behalf of the London Tourist Board. Under the agreement, Good Time Promotion is buying the whole concept of the Stockholm Card so that it can form the basis of the future London Card. Destination Stockholm AB will also continue to act as a consultant on technical matters, financial processing and marketing. Destination Stockholm is naturally delighted that the best-selling Stockholm Card has achieved international recognition by being chosen as the ideal model for a London Card. The Stockholm Card includes free admission to 70
museums and attractions, free travel on buses, underground trains and
commuter trains, free parking at all parking meters and public parking
areas in Stockholm, free sightseeing on selected boat tours during the
summer, attractive discount offers at a variety of attractions and restaurants,
and a guide book with detailed city maps, opening times and addresses.
The card can be bought at all Tourist Information Offices. It costs 199
kronor for 24 hours for adults and only 25 kronor for children aged 7-17. Stockholm’s ninth Tourist Information Office A busy square full of food, handicrafts and other
products from the Stockholm archipelago is the backdrop for Stockholm
Information Service’s ninth Tourist Information Office. "Skärgårdstorget"
on Skeppsbrokajen, between the Old Town and Södermalm, is being inaugurated
on 27 June with accordion music and dancing on the decorated jetty. The
Tourist Information Office will be manned by knowledgeable and multi-lingual
staff. A large selection of archipelago brochures, available free of charge,
will contain all the information that visitors are likely to need –
from boat schedules to listings of bed-and-breakfast accommodation and
typical archipelago restaurants. In addition archipelago residents will
be able to sell their products from stalls alongside the Tourist Information
Office, so the square will become a focal point for anything involving
the archipelago. The traditional archipelago culture will be illustrated,
for example through exhibitions and lectures highlighting well-known artists
and authors who have derived their inspiration from the 24,000-plus islands
off Stockholm. "The Russians are coming" is an old
Swedish phrase which goes back several hundred years to the days when
the Swedes were afraid that the "Russian bear" would invade
their country. Today many people involved in the tourism industry reckon
that the flow of visitors from the east which began to take off at the
start of the 1990s saved the industry from a sharp decline during the
recession. In 1997 Russians accounted for about 70,000 guest-nights in
Stockholm, compared with the 181,000 guest-nights recorded by American
visitors, who topped the city’s tourist league table. Russian visitors
have a great interest in culture, and popular places to visit include
the Vasa Museum and Junibacken, which now has a Russian commentary and
Russian-speaking guides. They also like to walk around the city, and naturally
they go shopping in the Old Town. During the autumn – at the end
of September and beginning of October – Stockholm Information Service
is co-operating with the Swedish Travel & Tourism Council and Silja
Line’s travel agents at a major tourism fair in St Petersburg, and
also at a workshop in Moscow. At the same time an advertising campaign
is being launched in Russian daily newspapers aimed at people in the 35-45
age bracket. Also involved in the campaign are Taxfree Shopping, the Stockholm
Chamber of Commerce and Scandic Hotels. Environment-friendly fireworks for Water Festival This year’s Stockholm Water Festival –
the seventh – takes place between 7 and 15 August. The event will
have environmental considerations in mind and will concentrate on both
the typically Swedish – dance bands, elkburgers etc – and the
hottest properties on the European pop scene. The programmes include the
Icelandic performer Björk and the British artists Ash, PJ Harvey, Portishead
and, last but not least, the veteran Tom Jones who will attract large
and varied audiences because the 1960s are now "in" among the
younger generation. Records are a new theme this year. The diver Ola Siltala
will try to set up a world record in diving by staying under the surface
for two days. There will also be a "Guinness Tent" with representatives
from The Guinness Book of Records, where visitors will be invited
to set records in anything they choose. It might be bed-making in record
time, the biggest bubble gum bubbles, or the largest number of people
who can be kissed simultaneously. The environment will be an even greater
issue for the organisers this year. All rubbish – glass, dishes,
cutlery etc – will be recyclable, sound levels during the concerts
will be reduced, and the fireworks competition will have to meet a number
of environmental criteria. Visit the Birka Viking settlement Some 1,200 years ago, at the end of the eighth century AD, the town of Birka was established on the island of Björkö in Lake Mälaren just west of Stockholm. Birka became a trading town where merchants and craftsmen from far and near met to do business. Skilled tradesmen were encouraged to live in the town. Jewellery, combs, pearls, objects made from amber, textiles and furs are just some of the items that were made and sold on Birka. About 700 people lived in the town during its heyday, some for the whole year and others just during a particular season. It was a time of rapid change for the inhabitants. Christianity was beginning to become established in Scandinavia, and the excavations have uncovered many Christian graves with bodies were put in shrouds and placed in coffins without the traditional heathen burial gifts. After 200 years Birka was abandoned, and a further
1,000 years were to elapse before the town entered a new phase in its
history as a prehistoric and cultural site. The town, graves and fortress
were placed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1993. During the summer,
up to 27 September, an exhibition on "Birka’s Pearls",
with original pearls from Viking times, is being staged at the Birka Museum
on Björkö. In addition, between 4 July and 16 August there will be handicrafts
weeks during which visitors will be able to see how glass pearls are manufactured.
On 30 August there will be a Viking market when everyday items like Viking
bread and dried fish will be on sale, together with objects which have
been made during the handicrafts weeks. The easiest way to get to Birka
is by boat from Nybrokajen in Stockholm. New for this summer are special
tours to the archaeological excavations, where visitors will be able to
see the latest finds. A major exhibition, "Birka – Viking town",
is being staged at the Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm until
31 December. Stone Age finds at Arlanda Airport Archaeologists from the Department of National
Heritage who have been making excavations at various sites in the Arlanda
Airport area before work starts on the construction of a third runway
have unearthed artefacts from the Stone Age. Previous research has shown
that one of the sites was a village dating from the New Stone Age. The
remains are from the era which archaeologists call the "Beaker culture"
(about 3600-2600 BC) because of the large amount of decorated ceramics
made around that time. Researchers believe that the Stone Age people of
the Arlanda area lived by the water, which at that time was about 30-35
metres higher than it is today. Archaeologists on the site have discovered
large quantities of ceramic shards, stone tools and debris from stone-working,
as well as burnt bones from food items like seals and fish. Few burial
grounds of this type have been discovered previously in the Stockholm
area, and the latest finds will shed new light on the way that this community
was established. Many tourists look for the unique in the town
they visit. They want to find the best places to shop and enjoy a good
meal. "Stockholm Designer’s Guide" is a new guidebook that
shows more than just the traditional tourist attractions. It will appeal
to anyone interested in architecture, art, design, beautiful clothes and
good food. The author is Agneta Liljedahl, interior designer, SIR, and
a well-known writer in the field. "How many times have we sat with
foreign guests and other friends interested in architecture, art and design,
with a map of Stockholm in front of us, marking locations and explaining
where they should go. Shown them what we would have liked to have known
about if we had been in their position - what we think they should see
in our city." Agneta Liljedahl wrote these words in the foreword,
and this was the birth of the idea for the book, Stockholm Designer’s
Guide. The book describes the unique, the source of inspiration. Personally,
and from an historic perspective, buildings, museums, designer boutiques,
clothing shops, restaurants and excursions are all described. We find
tips for the best places to shop, and where to enjoy a good meal. That
the selections were made by two generations of designers gives the book
added quality and breadth. NEWS IN BRIEF Cycle guides on the road again For the fifth year running, Stockholm Information
Service cycle guides will be pedalling around the city this summer, helping
visitors with their local knowledge and distributing information material.
They can easily be picked out with their green jackets and their bicycles
with trailers carrying brochure supplies. The guides are a welcome complement
to the Tourist Information Offices and they will be found in the most
popular areas like Djurgården, the Old Town and Drottninggatan, and also
by the Riksbron bridge. The guides work in pairs and their language skills
include English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Finnish.
They distribute, free of charge, Stockholm This Week, the Adventures and
Excursions guide, sightseeing brochures and maps. Two of Stockholm’s museums, the National
Museum and Millesgården, are marking this year’s centenary of the
world-famous Orrefors glassworks in southern Sweden. Orrefors has been
transformed from a small glassworks which made only simple household glassware
to a major international concern with several factories. The Swedish glass
industry, with its distinguished designers, has become a source of inspiration
for many other glass manufacturers in the rest of the world. The international
breakthrough came with the Paris Exhibition of 1925, when works by the
glass artists Simon Gate and Edward Hald were on show. Since then Orrefors
glassware has been one of the most popular souvenirs for visitors to Stockholm
and the rest of Sweden. The National Museum’s exhibition "Orrefors
100 Years" continues until 11 October, and the Millesgården exhibition
"Love for Glass" until 23 August. Handicrafts exhibition at Liljevalch Handicrafts of all kinds are on show in a major exhibition
at the Liljevalch Art Gallery which runs until 23 August. The exhibition
includes works by craftsmen and women from all corners of Sweden, young
and old. The long tradition of Swedish handicrafts has inspired the creation
of regional costumes, wall cupboards, weaving and much more. All the exhibits
have been specially made and reflect people’s need to enhance and
decorate their surroundings. The summer’s programme also offers various
themes for each week, for example markets and theatre. The art of garden layout has followed various styles, from a "back to nature" appearance to the formal and disciplined design of a park. For the first time in Stockholm, Bergius Botanical Garden is showing lawn designs both for gardens and a city environment (in the central part of Lidingö). And "green" sculptures are being shown in street settings thanks to the city’s Highway Authority. The exhibition continues throughout the summer at the following sites: Bergius Botanical Garden, Lidingö central area,
Mölnvik, Västertorp, Salem and the Östbergahöjden residential area. Cultural Centre aims at the moon! "Towards the Moon" is an exhibition
about the biggest and most costly project in the history of mankind: the
space race between the USA and the USSR to be first on the moon. The exhibition
describes the space race and the events of those 12 years here on Earth.
It is based on research by Staffan Bengtsson and Göran Willis, as well
as the Swedish collection FORM 19OO/Lost in Space, with more than 5,000
space artefacts assembled over 10 decades. The collection shows how many
designers and engineers, authors and film-makers, pop musicians and toy
manufacturers, clothing designers and poets, architects and newspaper
staff, were all dragged into the black hole of speculation and dreams
that characterised the Space Age. Now it’s time for Stockholm – often
the inspiration for songwriters and musicians – to enter the world
of pop in its own right. Britain’s Phil Davenport has composed "Beauty
on Water", a love ballad in English sung by the Swedish singer Karin
Mattisson on Eagle Records. Entitled simply "Stockholm", it
will soon be complemented by a video. And to strengthen Stockholm’s
worldwide image even further, Stockholm Information Service has provided
film footage for the video. The disc can be bought at the Sweden Shop
in Sweden House, Hamngatan 27. You can also listen to "Stockholm"
on +46 (0)8- 457 00 00 and press 1111# (the number of the special SIS
Stockholm information line). Landscape X and multi-cultural Stockholm Multi-cultural Stockholm is exemplified by the
Intercult production group, whose artistic director, Chris Torch, moved
to Stockholm from Cleveland in the USA in the mid-1970s. During the Cultural
Capital year Intercult is staging a number of theatrical performances
which are linked to installations under the collective name Landscape
X. The aim is to depict the new Europe, with the tearing down of old frontiers
along with the new dreams and new cultural lifeblood which have emerged
from the chaos of war. The participating producers and actors come mainly
from the former eastern bloc countries of the Balkans and the Baltic.
Performances of "Euralien" will be taking place at the old State
Archive building on Skeppsholmen from 23 June till 5 July, and of "Utopia/dystopia"
in Skeppsholmen Church between 8 and 27 October. The reigning Mälaren Queen, Anna Norrby, was re-elected
for a further term during the celebrations of Sweden’s National Day
on 6 June. Her reign was extended to cover the whole of 1998. This historic
decision – she is the first Queen to be re-elected – was taken,
among others, by Stockholm Information Service and the Stockholm’s
Mälaren Queen project group. The fact that Anna is an opera singer in
her "day job" was a decisive reason for prolonging her reign
for the whole of the Cultural Capital year. She recently performed in
Berlin at the Press and Radio Ball, and was also in Brussels for the inauguration
of the scale model of Stockholm City Hall at Mini-Europe. Two new posters are now available with themes
inspired by Stockholm’s beautiful archipelago. Readers are welcome
to order both the posters and other promotional material on the enclosed
Order Sheet.
Editor: Lena Jörgenson Translated by Philip Ray
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