The Culture of Sweden

Scandinavia was somewhat isolated from mainstream European culture for a long time and as a result, folk art motifs and traditional handicraft have influenced the development of modern artistic traditions.

Scandinavian 20th century design is renowned and exported to countries all over the world. Sweden was one of the strongholds of the Functional movement and this can still be found in IKEA products, which are cheap, simple but charming. Most Swedish painters with an international reputation were active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Among the most renowned artists from this period are Anders Zorn, Carl Larsson and Bruno Liljefors.

Sweden is the seat of the Nobel Prize. The Prizes are presented to the Laureates at ceremonies on December 10 each year, the birthday of Alfred Nobel (1833-1896). There are five prizes from the Nobel Foundation: Chemistry, Physics, Medicine, Physiology, Literature and the Peace Prize.

Well-known Swedish writers include Henning Mankell, Selma Lagerlöf, Vilhelm Moberg, Harry Martinson and Astrid Lindgren, the author of the Pippi Longstocking books. In film, Mauritz Stiller, Victor Sjöström, Ingmar Bergman, Bo Widerberg, Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman, and Anita Ekberg have made a name for themselves. The annual Gothenburg Film Festival gives directors, actors and enthusiasts an opportunity to meet, listen to lectures and watch movies.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Sweden was seen as an international leader in what is now referred to as the "sexual revolution", with gender equality having particularly been promoted.[55] At the present time, the number of single people is one of the highest in the world. Equality, a lack of distinctions based on class, age, sex and education and the ability to remain cool under pressure are some of the traits that have become almost national characteristics in Sweden.