Scandinavia House

See a discussion on the work and life of Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck with Dr. Anna Maria von Bonsdorff (Museum Director at the Ateneum Art Museum, Finnish National Gallery), Dita Amory (Curator in Charge, Robert Lehman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art), and Patricia Berman (Feldberg Professor of Art, Wellesley College). Beloved in Nordic countries for her highly original style, Helene Schjerfbeck (1862–1946) is relatively unknown to the rest of the world. Overcoming immense personal struggles and working in a remote location for decades, she produced a powerful body of work through sheer force of will. "Seeing Silence: The Paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck," opening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on December 5th, 2025, is the first exhibition to showcase the work of the artist in a major United States museum. Featuring nearly 60 works—including generous loans from the Finnish National Gallery / Ateneum Art Museum, other Finnish museums, and private collections in Finland and Sweden—"Seeing Silence" illuminates Schjerfbeck as a valuable voice of modernism. In this lecture and discussion held on December 3, 2025 at Scandinavia House, the speakers reflect on Schjerfbeck’s oeuvre, life, and social context, offering perspectives on this important artist. Header Photo: Helene Schjerfbeck, Self-Portrait, 1912, oil on canvas, 43,5 × 42 cm. Finnish National Gallery Collection / Ateneum Art Museum. Photo: Finnish National Gallery / Yehia Eweis #heleneschjerfbeck #arttalks

On November 20th, Scandinavian House and Columbia Climate School presented a conversation exploring how data-driven insights can shape community preparedness, adaptation measures, and investment strategies. As climate change intensifies, questions about the future grow more urgent: What regions face the greatest risks? How do we quantify risk in a way that supports smarter decisions? And how can businesses make sound investments amid growing uncertainty? Columbia Climate School Dean Alexis Abramson, Jeffrey Schlegelmilch (Columbia Climate School) and Sara Rosner (AllianceBernstein) discussed topics including the power of climate risk mapping and how collaboration is key to driving real-world impact and building a safer, more sustainable future. Learn more about programs at Scandinavia House at https://www.scandinaviahouse.org/ Learn more about Columbia Climate School at https://www.climate.columbia.edu/ #climatechange #sustainability

See a discussion with Icelandic sculptor Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir as on the new book HUMAN: Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir! The first major publication focused exclusively on capturing her 45 years as an artist, HUMAN contains images of all Thórarinsdóttir’s major works, as well as discussions from both Icelandic and international experts about her artistic vocation and works from various perspectives. Thórarinsdóttir’s works — life-size, anonymous sculptures of human figures forged from aluminum and steel — gesture towards a universal humanity, whether they’re displayed in the nooks of American museums or scrambling up trellises outside of galleries in Denmark. Their featureless, genderless forms draw a stark contrast with their welcoming, all-too-familiar stances, posed as if interacting naturally with their environment. Wherever they might be, the representations of Thórarinsdóttir’s ouevre reach and twist through the pages of HUMAN to evoke a raw connectivity that transcends outward appearances. In this discussion held at Scandinavia House on November 18, 2025, Thórarinsdóttir discussed the book and her wide-ranging career as an artist. Learn more about programming at Scandinavia House at: https://www.scandinaviahouse.org/ #arttalks #sculpture

See a discussion with ASF Visiting Lecturer Silje Solheim Karlsen on identity in contemporary Sámi literature! In Norwegian/Sámi author Kathrine Nedrejord’s critically acclaimed novel "The Sámi Problem" (2024), we meet Marie, who has long hidden her Sámi identity. Through an intense journey in both history and geography, the novel explores what it means to be Sámi – and what it means to be a woman. In this program held at Scandinavia House on November 4, Dr. Karlsen, a Professor in Nordic Literature at UiT The Arctic University of Norway/Sámi University of Applied Sciences, discussed Nedrejord’s novel, with a particular focus on existential questions surrounding the process of finding and acknowledging one’s identity. Learn more about programs at Scandinavia House at https://www.scandinaviahouse.org/ #sami #sapmi

See a panel on Arvo Pärt, held in celebration of the Estonian master composer's 90th year! The program was introduced with remarks by H.E. Alar Karis, President of Estonia, and included a conversation with celebrated virtuosos Peter Bouteneff, David Lang, and Paavo Järvi, who explored Pärt’s history as the avant-garde firebrand driven from his country by Soviet censorship for his radically prayerful melodies, as well as his influence across the cultural landscape, enriching countless films and dance compositions and inspiring the work of visual artists and architects. This conversation followed a screening of Dorian Supin’s "Even If I Lose Everything," his third and final documentary about the composer, which explores the gentle rhythms of Pärt’s days back home as he navigates his legacy. It was held alongside celebrations of the composer this season at Carnegie Hall, including an October 23 performance with the Estonian Festival Orchestra. Learn more about programming at Scandinavia House at https://www.scandinaviahouse.org/ Learn more about Arvo Pärt programs at Carnegie Hall at https://www.carnegiehall.org/Events/Highlights/Debs-Composers-Chair/Arvo-Part #arvopärt

See a discussion with Danish bestselling author Harald Voetmann on his “erudite, grotesque, and absurdist trilogy”– "Awake," "Sublunar," and "Visions and Temptations"! Voetmann’s eye-opening, visceral works cover mankind’s inhuman will to conquer nature through the eyes of various mystics, scientists, and innovators across centuries and landscapes in Europe: a bumbling Roman author and naturalist who perishes in Pompeii; pioneering Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe on the verge of a discovery; and a Benedictine monk on his deathbed. In this program at Scandinavia House on October 27, 2025, he discussed his works with Morten Høi Jensen. In each novel, the genius of the protagonists clash with the inevitable prospects of their all-too-average demise, with their gazes held elsewhere, be it to the stars or into Hell. Voetmann’s works are a comic delight about a few of history’s greatest minds and the not-so-great human bodies they were housed in. Awake, Sublunar, and Visions and Temptations are all out now through New Directions Publishing. “Reading Voetmann’s books makes me feel so alive. His voice is like no other, his hold on his material masterful.” — Olga Ravn, author of The Employees Purchase the trilogy here: https://www.ndbooks.com/author/harald-voetmann/ Learn more about programming at Scandinavia House at https://www.scandinaviahouse.org/ #literature #norlit