Culture — Nordic Labour Journal

500 years of Nordic history

(Mar 19, 2024) What could you do on Nordic Day on 23 March to feel a bit Nordic? One thing is to go and see the big exhibition Nordic Life at the Nordic Museum in Stockholm. Svenska Dagbladet calls it “perfect”.

Fiskars – the ironworks village that changed its spots

(Sep 22, 2022) The Fiskars ironworks was in decline but became a culture and tourism village. Here, the idea of labour has really changed – and it has paid off.

Parikkala goes for maids, whitefish and an unusual sculpture park

(May 26, 2022) There is an old saying that "the maids from Parikkala and the whitefish from Simpeljärvi are better than anywhere else". The maid is now a sculpture in the city centre while the whitefish is swimming in the lake. But a sculpture park with 255 concrete statues doing yoga is by far the biggest draw.

Nordics agree to protect culture as well as the climate

(Nov 16, 2021) Climate and sustainability get more from the 2022 Nordic cooperation budget, while culture and education avoid planned cuts.

Understanding each other – digital services ease cultural exchange

(Oct 13, 2021) A common digital platform for topical conversations with Nordic profiles could raise awareness about what is going on in our neighbouring countries – just like television once did. New technology makes it easier to cross national borders.

“Chocolate brown is the post-pandemic comeback office colour”

(Jun 29, 2021) What do I wear? That could be this autumn’s great question for many who will be returning to work after the holidays. Many Finnish employees have been working from home since March 2020.

100 years of comfort clothes coming out of the closet

(Jun 29, 2021) A current exhibition at the Helsinki Design Museum showcases the Finnish clothing company Nanso and the 100 years-old history of their everyday fashion. The theme is “The Comfort Revolution” – how comfort and wellbeing has steered fashion’s evolution towards today’s Corona fashion.

War destitution created Lapland's tourism boom. It began here.

(Dec 10, 2020) The tourism industry in Finnish Lapland has a lot to thank Eleanor Roosevelt for. The presidential widow’s visit to Rovaniemi and the Arctic Circle set in motion an international Lapland industry. This year is the 70th anniversary of her visit.

The dancer who spreads joy with a new cultural phenomenon

(May 15, 2020) A stop to public performances gave choreographer Yaniv Cohen (42) the idea for Flekk. A faceless creature giving work to furloughed dancers and birthday fun to children.

Mapping the mental border obstacles between Denmark and Sweden

(Jun 20, 2019) Preconceptions, experiences, habits and feelings can prevent businesses from working across national borders. Ethnologist Fredrik Nilsson says that besides money, a lot of emotions are being invested in cross-border work.

Stein Olav Henrichsen: Taking Munch into the future

(Sep 07, 2018) The new Munch Museum already towers 13 stories over old Viking plots by the Oslo fjord. Stein Olav Henrichsen is the museum director who has taken on the task of managing an historic milestone, as the Munch collection is moved and visitor numbers must double. Who is he, and what does he want? Is Munch relevant enough to fill the grand new museum?

Art, culture and wellbeing

(Feb 08, 2016) What if we turned the pyramide upside down and allowed the ministry of culture, rather than the ministry of finance, to be in charge of social development? What would happen if that ministry, which is usually bottom of the hierarchy, could prioritise measures to promote sustainable development? Would it make a difference?

Youth unemployment — light at the end of the tunnel?

(Oct 14, 2014) The tide is turning. Starting this year, Europe’s working-age population is falling, but that does not solve the problem of youth unemployment. We went to North Sweden to see how a small municipality is dealing with the challenges. We have looked at apprenticeship systems in Norway, Denmark and Finland to see what works, and we met Finnish youths who have been given a new chance through the youth guarantee.

Harpa in Reykjavik: Iceland’s symbol of recovery

(Jun 17, 2014) Despite being so heavy hit by the crisis, Icelanders continued construction of the new music house Harpa in Reykjavik - the only building project which kept going during the crisis. And as Iceland is bouncing back, the award-winning building Harpa has become the symbol of Iceland’s economic recovery.

Munch in the canteen – for Freia’s workers only the best was good enough

(Jun 19, 2013) Edvard Munch’s iconic The Scream created art history when it was sold at Sotheby’s in New York in 2012 for €91,033,826. The Scream is also part of the Anniversary Exhibition Munch 150, because Munch didn’t paint just one, but often several pictures of the same motif. The anniversary also features the Freia Frieze, which Munch painted for the workers’ canteen at the Freia chocolate factory in Oslo.

Editorial: Art and culture shapes the future working life

(Oct 14, 2012) Working life is changing and improving constantly. The essence of art is to go beyond what is already there and point to something new. Can art and culture help innovation processes and the development of new jobs?

Culture increasingly important for employment

(Oct 14, 2012) Culture plays an increasingly important role in employment. Cultural and creative trades employ five million people in Europe and represent 3.3 percent of the total EU economy.

One in four Icelanders in creative jobs

(Oct 14, 2012) The culture, entertainment and experience industry is increasingly important in Iceland. The country’s single most important cultural industry is music.

Culture helps handle the darker sides of working life

(Oct 14, 2012) There are great hopes that creativity will give businesses the competitive edge, but amateurish attempts at introducing culture into working life do not help, say Finnish pioneers on culture in businesses.

Board game injects creativity into medical technicians

(Oct 14, 2012) There is growing interest in the way industrial designers work, and design ideas are entering into more and more areas. The ability to create processes, focus on customers and to think outside the box fuels the interest among big and small companies.