Snow

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost

New Hampshire

1923

Tracing links between Scandinavia, Russia, and Bysantium through early arts

Vladimir’s (first Russian ruler*) choice of Greek-Orthodoxy in preference to Roman Catholicism may indeed have been in part determined, as the earlier Russian chronicles imply, by aesthetic considerations, for the Russian have from the earliest times shown themselves quick in the appreciation of beauty. Happening when it did, his choice resulted in the establishment of an almost exclusive link with Byzantium, not only in the religious sphere, but also with regard to cultural and artistic life. Kiev’s extensive commercial contacts with Europe, which at times extended as far west as Regensburg, might well have enabled the newly converted Principality to become integrated with Western Europe had not the animosity which separated the Orthodox faith of Constantinople from the Catholic Church of Rome inevitably forced the newly Christianised State to become firmly associated with Byzantium. Rome seems tacitly to have recognised the situation, for although a number of divines visited Kiev, and although commercial cities such as Novgorod took every opportunity to expand their western trade, no papal legate was ever appointed to Kiev. Yaroslav (1019-54), Vladimir’s younger son and successor, attempted to bring his country into European affairs, but he was never able to weave the Kievan State into the European framework, even though he himself married the Swedish princess Ingigerd, and three of his sons married the daughters of German princes and only the fourth a Byzantine princess, while one of his daughters became the wife of the King of France, another of the king of Hungary, and a third of the King of Norway […]

[…]The fact that so much was taken over from Byzantium was not due to Russian indolence, not to indifference, nor even was it for the sake of expediency; it was an entirely conscious process inspired by a sincere admiration for the Byzantine achievement, which evoked a profound and spontaneous response from the innermost depths of the Russian nature, thereby releasing to the full the spring of Russian creativeness.

That it should have done so is hardly to be wondered at, since, from the earliest times of which we have any knowledge, the inhabitants of the South Russian plain, and especially those in the vicinity of Kiev – the area which has in consequence often been described as the cradle of Russian civilisation – had come into contact with various alien cultures and had thereby acquired both the ability to select from these foreign cultures the elements which were most advantageous, and the skill to adapt them to their own need. Thus the Slav artists of both the late pagan and the Early Christian periods had remained unaffected by Scandinavian, or rather Varangian art, in spite of the fact that many of the Kievan princes including Rurik, the founder of the ruling horse, were of Norse extraction, and although a constant stream of Scandinavian merchants travelled along Russian’s great waterways, and numerous Varangian mercenaries continued over the years to enlist in the defence forces of the major Russian towns. Only occasionally do Norse elements appear, as for instance in the interlace patterns on the jewellery, especially on bracelets.

Illustration 1

This silver bangle (ill.1) was found on the site of Kiev’s Mikhailov-Zlatoverkh Monastery. It dates from the twelfth century and its decorations include birds of Byzantine origin, heraldic-looking beasts of oriental character, and interlace designs of Scandinavian inspiration.

And buckles (ill.2), on an infrequent stone capital or, more important, in the decoration of manuscripts.

Illustration 2

A capital letter from a Gospel dated to 1346 in which a bird of oriental character in intertwined in a Norse interlace, the extremities of which terminate in birds’ heads bearing a distinct resemblance to those which appear in Scythian art.

In exactly the same way the Scythians, some thirteen hundred years before, had made wide use in their decorative arts of both Achaemenid and Greek motifs, but had not reacted to the beauty of Persian or Greek architecture.

* Personal notes

From the Book: A concise history of Russian Art by Tamara Talbot Rice (London: Thames and Hudson)

Bergen, Norway

"Under the Autumn Star" 1906 by Hamsun

«See, now I am well away from the rush and crowd of the city, from people and newspapers; I have fled away from it all, because of the calling that came to me once more from the quiet, lonely tracts where I belong. “It will all come right this time,” I tell myself, and am full of hope. Alas, I have fled from the city like this before, and afterwards returned. And fled away again.»

«Where are you off to? I don’t know. East or west. We’re wanderers.»

«The water was as clear as a mirror yesterday and is as clear again today. This is an Indian summer and it’s warm on the island – oh how mild and warm it is! – but there’s no sun. It’s years now since I’ve known such peace, twenty or thirty maybe, perhaps in some earlier life. For  it seems to me I must have known such peace before, the way I walk along here humming, and in ecstasy, mindful of each stone and each blade of grass, and these seem mindful of me too. We know each other.»

Under the Autumn Star (1906) is the first volume in the so-called wanderer trilogy. The main character here has Hamsun’s own real name, Knut Pedersen.

Pedersen is a middle-aged writer in flight from the city and the modern age. He wanders around, picking up work where he can, wandering on again. On the Øvrebø farm he is an observer of the unhappy marriage between Captain Falkenberg and his wife Lovise. When he begins to find himself attracted to the lady he moves on. Not until long afterwards does he find that his feelings were reciprocated.

The novel’s muted and melancholic style is suffused with the sense of longing and sadness for lost youth. There are also intense and lyrical descriptions of nature and a number of acute psychological portraits. Source: HamsunSenteret 

You can read the book following this ebook link

Hellevik's sociological classifications. Towards egalitarianism, or is it at all possible?

As most four-fold tables in sociology, these categories are ideal types, pedagogical caricatures. But Hellevik shows from his rich data material that a surprisingly large part of the Norwegian population fits into one of the four categories without too much friction. I am not a strong believer in data, as we don’t know who exactly was questioned and how answers fit with reality, but there is some sense in this. Don’t you recognize some of your friends/acquaintances that could fit into one or another category?

On the basis of several answers in the surveys, undertaken by the sociologist Ottar Hellevik, he divides the Norwegian population into four categories, which in the 1980s were roughly of the same size. We have the modern materialists. They are oriented towards short-time consumption, they are enthusiastic about new technology (always first with the new cell phone), they have little sense of tradition, and they put their own welfare and interests first. Secondly, we have the modern idealists, representing equality between the sexes, anti-authoritarianism, caring, tolerance and individual self-realization. Then there are the traditional materialists, focusing upon material security and economic growth, but much more culturally conventional and traditional than the modern materialists. Hellevik’s last category is the traditional idealists, committed to patriotism and traditional values, often including respect for the Christian heritage. 

Can we learn anything from educational system in Norway?

The Norwegian curriculum that was published in 1993 was blamed for its poetic approach, and was changed in 2006 to more instrumentalistic.

The curriculum had an ambitious general part. For the first time, a common platform for primary, lower secondary, upper secondary and adult education was presented. The basic values of the core curriculum were expressed through six idealistic portraits:

-       The spiritual human being

-       The creative human being

-       The working human being

-       The liberally-educated human being

-       The social human being

-       The environmentally aware human being

-       And as the result of them all: The integrated human being.

The curriculum ends:

The ultimate aim of education is to inspire individuals to realize their potentials in ways that serve the common good; to nurture humaneness in a society in development.

Sounds all good, but can it work in practice? Norwegian new government in 2006 did not think so and made major amendments to it. But we can at least apply these principles and utilize them in a way that can still change education to the better in other countries.

On Edvard Grieg (Norwegian composer)

Grieg’s collaboration with poets brought him into contact with some of the most romantic of all Norwegian literature, the sagas, folk tales and legends. However, Grieg also had a deep love of nature, he liked nothing better than hiking in the mountains around Bergen and up from Sogn through Jotunheimen. There, in the domain of the trolls, he found challenging peaks, which afforded him splendid vistas, shimmering, iridescent glaciers and tranquil plateaus, where he became acquainted with the Norwegian folk culture.

Slideshow of Danish adventures in 10 minutes

Speaking at the Academy for Talented Youth

What is the best way to see how the future of the country will look like than getting to know its younger generation? I was lucky enough to meet all the young talented Danish high school kids at the seminar organised by Academy for Talented Youth (Akademiet For Talen Unge) which all the brightest kids participated in to get inspired for their future adventures, careers and lives.

I was chosen to speak at the event, taking place in a Nørre Gimnasium in North West Copenhagen, where I shared my educational, intercultural, and psychological journeys.  Speaking to young kids who look up to you is an inspiring experience in itself. Being asked very mature questions that made me reflect on my personal experiences, my worldviews, and my life, was astonishing. Kids, who still have not experienced the real world, asked the most sincere questions.

I noticed that many of them were interested in how us, non-Danish citizens, viewed them, Danes. I had an impression that they wanted to be more self-aware of how the rest of the world viewed them, as if they lacked some of international contacts and relationships. They were puzzled and wanted to know, why us (me and Michael, another speaker at the event), out of all countries in the world, have chosen Denmark as a country to study. To them, kids who grew up in the most peaceful country with most certainty, was unclear why we would move into that peace and quite and not go for something more fun and adventurous.

It made me think about it once again. Even though I had that same question many times before, the answer kept on changing every time I was trying to answer it, depending on time of the year, or sometimes even, day, when it was being asked.

During the winter, when the days are dark and streets are grey, wet and cold, I loved Danes’ love of home, the comfort they would create around them, the love of their hygge (Danish cosiness) with candles. They seemed to dedicate more time to more meaningful, non-materialistic life pleasures, when they tend to spend more precious moments with people they love and care about most.

During the summer, I loved its country’s nature, its greenery, and the way people know how to enjoy simple pleasures of life. Walking or jogging along the coast, picnicking with the loved ones, sharing a beer or a glass of wine in the park, rollerblading, cross country or cross city cycling are just a few things that most Danes enjoy. I love being a part of all this. So far I have experienced a country with a great work/pleasure balance. These are the experiences that I am taking back with me, no matter where my next move is going to be. 

American entrepreneur once said “Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from”. This is exactly how I feel about Denmark, this is the country that I don’t want to leave, and it will be most difficult to move again from here. It is a country where everything seems to flow, a country where the society seem to look after you, so you and your mind becomes more settled, and it is easier to find that peace within. People deal with problems on a regular basis, people tent to see the best in life, and Danes are famous for their appreciation of all simple pleasures of life.

They are my personal experiences. One can argue that us humans are programmed into being proactive, into being adventurous, and they get bored if life is too stable. I guess the reason why these things are most important to me is because of my most hectic life in the past 12 years. Moving from one place to another, being constantly challenged, and most importantly, constant lack of certainty, made me appreciate and fall in love with Danish values. Again, one might argue that these are just imaginary values, this is how Denmark is branding itself, and peace and quite are only for people who are lazy and don’t want ‘something more’ in life. Do not get me wrong here, Danes are not lazy people who sit around the table lighted by candles, doing nothing and enjoying life. No. They are very hard working people, with good reasoning behind every good idea and gut feeling, which makes them into very much efficient people. They are what now is called ‘Glocal’. They know what is happening in the world, they are very educated (55% are at higher education level), they travel a lot. But at the same time their values for their communities, their families, and cosiness of home are always there whenever they are, whenever in the world they are. After many years of rather ‘closed’ politics, they now in the process of opening up to the world, wanting to share all their knowledge and their values. They might be different from the rest of their neighbours English and German, and not as forward in their ways of doing business. But as they say, once you get their trust, once you get to know them, you have a partner or a friend for life. The Danish way.

I am aware that there are many generalisations here which I find hard to make sometimes. When you get to know real people in real places, you realise that everyone is different, no matter which country they are from, or whenever they live. The more people you meet, the more difficult it becomes to discuss people as a unity at all. Another great quote by Eleanor Roosevelt to finish off this post ‘Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people’. So I present just an idea for you, Denmark from my perspective, a simple guideline and descriptions of general trends. Come and see Denmark, meet Danes, and then we will discuss our ideas over a hot cup of tea.

Big thanks to all the young talents from the Academy, their wonderful questions was an inspiration for this post.

Beautiful Sigur Rós

Sigur Rós - Ekki múkk from Sigur Rós on Vimeo.
Listen to their beautiful northern melancholic melodies on www.sigur-ros.co.uk

Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg

Århus, the world's 'smallest city'

View of Århos from the top of ARoS Museum

Århus is the second largest city of Denmark and is unofficially considered to be the capital of Jutland region in Denmark. The city is home to the country's top university which makes it into a very vibrant and alive place. Århus's famous ARoS Museum of Modern Art attracts many art and culture enthusiasts which also helps Denmark communicate to international audiences.

Why Denmark?

Many of my friends were puzzled when I have chosen a small town, up in the north of Denmark, Aalborg, over the ‘city of dreams’ and of great buzz, London. The answer was easy. I wanted to concentrate on my studies, and found it difficult to concentrate surrounded by London's noise, needed a break from the busyness, needed to sort out my thoughts, which I found difficult to do in London. I have made the most of London over the past twelve years and it was the time to move on, to search for a place where there was no buzz, but peace, time to reflect on my experiences, and simply some order to my life. London was great when I needed inspiration and life experience, it was a great platform for inspiration, for networking, and of course, career development. But there was no need for external world to inspire me anymore, my head craved more freedom and space instead and it was wild nature that I felt could bring me more inspiration then megapolis. I was not enjoying any of the city’s pleasures, I have been to many galleries, gigs, concerts, theatre performances and it was not something I was enjoying anymore. I was not enjoying acquiring new relationships every week without anyone wanting to keep their relationships going, I didn’t enjoy feeling that only reasons people would find me interesting and would invite me to their fancy parties only because they found me ‘useful’ in their career climbings. I wanted some more honesty and slower pace of life, where I would have time to work on my projects and concentrate on things that were more meaningful in life.

I was always fascinated by how different Scandinavia is from the rest of the world, colder temperatures also looked attractive to me, as I, being born in Russian Saint-Petersburg, represented a proper northerner. It was also my personal interest in a social political system that Scandinavian countries shared and I was hoping that coming to Denmark to study would help me understand its culture and its people better. I was lucky enough to meet a few Danes before coming to Denmark who were genuinely good people with characteristics I always respected in people, polite, rational, calm, honest and direct.

I have also heard about ‘Danish happiness’ which I thought was more about people themselves and how they saw things rather then about Danish greatness as a country. Danes just know how to appreciate what they have, accept things as they are and feel satisfied with them. My rather confused self craved that sense of order and peace they had in their communities.

They were educational statistics that I was very much impressed with and high rankings in students’ satisfaction. Programs were well designed and were very much personalized. It seemed Danish Universities were interested in educating its students to the highest level and cared about students do well in the future. I have never had this feeling in England, especially while studying in London. In London I thought it was much more materialized, it was more about appearances and self-marketing rather then real knowledge. English professors were very much preoccupied with their own research, they hardly had any time for their students, and of course not for any personal contact with them. Maybe it was just my personal unlucky experience with my particular degree, but that is how I saw things and that is why I did not want to carry on with my future development in England.  

And so the decision was made to come to Aalborg as they had a multi-disciplinary Masters degree that I thought could help me to narrow down my interests and help me choose my future path. It is a great experience I must say, I am learning new things every day, not just from my lectures, but from people around me, from Scandinavian culture, nature and air. I could not be any happier. Sometimes I wonder when I am going to start missing the buzz.. Can’t get enough of that peace, quietness and space.

Louisiana MoMA adventure

After my visit to Helsingør and discovering the wonders of new Culture Centre Kultur Værftet, I took a train to Frederiksbourg. This beautiful town has become home to another cultural spot, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. The town is half-hour train journey from Copenhagen and you can purchase a ticket that will buy you both travelling and the entrance fee (and will save you a few kronas). When walking towards the museum along the coastline, where cliffs and breathtaking views make it into an adventure in itself, I could not stop wondering how unique Denmark is. You would not think of a better place for an art gallery, right next to the sea, to the waves, to the sky. It is all this never ending spacial freedom that we find ourselves surrounded by, that makes this gallery's visit into an unforgettable experience. All galleries that I have attended in London could not compete with their sometimes claustrophobic, windowless, locations, positioned in a way where your brain finds its limits in thinking and creative freedoms. Here you let go of your limitations.You breath in fresh winds and find yourself inspired even before stepping inside the gallery.

You would't think that Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is a big gallery when you enter this falsely small looking village-type house covered in plants that bring that feeling of coziness one might feel at their home garden. Large white space opens right after you enter that building and you realise how mistaken you were about its scale. Corridors lead you onto long but perfectly-timed journeys through exhibitions. Open space and views over the sea follow you throughout your wanderings and it is only occasionally when you stop to think about true dimensions and size of the gallery. It is not the size, but rather the planning, corridors and mazes that fool you into thinking that it is it a rather big building. In reality, it looks tiny from outside, flat, and as if it has grown out of the earth like a mushroom.

 

Kulturvaerftet at Helsingør

On 10.10.10 Helsingør, previously best known for Kronborg (Hamlet's) Castle, has become home to new Culture Centre, Kultur Værftet. The new glass building, overviewing the castle and hosting most wonderful music and artistic events, has been designed by Aarhus based AART Architects and represents one of the latest successes of Danish Design and Architecture. You can see more details on its architectural design on Dezeen website where you also can find some beautiful photography by Adam Mørk. It seems that the agency has followed all the latest trends of environmentally friendly, illumination and energy saving techniques.

Elsinoreøs old shipbuilding yard has been transformed into a 17,000m2 cultural and knowledge centre, including concert halls, showrooms, conference rooms, a dockyard museum and a public library. Agency has received 1st prize in open international architecture competition for their innovative approach.

The centre is a great addition to many other new architectural ambitious developments within Denmark, that are all moving towards 100% sustainability by 2050. Can a small country like Denmark achieve this? Time will show, but with their extremely optimistic, hardworking attitude that can be possible. Denmark is a small country and what they would like to achieve is complete independence from international oil powers. Danish modern economy is mostly built on knowledge-based resources. Setting up such goals Denmark is setting up an excellent example to the world about possibilities of engineering, innovation and development. While others only just starting talking about, Denmark is already doing it.

If you would like to be a part of great movement or just want to learn from the best, then you should consider your education in Denmark. If you are looking for a carrer in architecture, green technologies or innovation, Denmark is a country that can help you achieve your greatest goals and aspirations. It is not just quality education that will benefit you, but it is vast, green spaces filled with clean and smooth architectural styles throughout the country. You will be fascinated by their simplicity, the quality Scandinavian design is very much famous for. As a designer myself, no matter where I go, it is the feeling of order that you get when surrounded by such architecture. Everything has some sort of structure to everything, the whole of Denmark is filled with many beautiful design objects that will keep on inspiring you. The only downside of this is that we all, as humans, get used to good things too fast, and after living here for a while, might stop noticing and appreciating Scandinavian simplicity (many Danes don't see any benefits of this and find it a little 'borring'). I see it as just another perspective of how we view the world, we all build opinions based on our past experiences and on our dreams.

'Denmark by Design' and 'Challenge Innovation' at DDC, Copenhagen

Two excellent exhibitions are held right now in the heart of Copenhagen, at the Danish Design Centre. The Centre was established as a knowledge centre for design. Their primary aim is to help companies grow and develop through the right implementation of design and its strategies. 

First exhibition, taking place on the first and second floors, Challenge Innovation, illustrates how design can lead the way to successful innovation in the area of welfare solutions. Denmark as a country with a well developed welfare system invests large amounts of money in the development of new innovative ways of sustaining its competency levels. The exhibition educates us about challenges that designers are currently facing in order to achieve high levels of efficiency and functionality. Exhibition is a great example of strategic communication between that state, designers and the public. Exhibition strengthens this link through a clever implementation of communication patterns. 

Exhibition displays latest innovations from designers, but also asks a lot of questions about what is it we are all facing in the future, how we can all contribute.. It is a well-designed dialogue that stimulate everyones' thinking and inspires everyone for future developments. Their website perfectly describes its purpose: "Welfare as we know it is under growing pressure, and we need to develop new, innovative solutions – but how do we create innovation that works? Welfare challenges are typically characterised by a high degree of complexity. Solving problems in complex systems requires challenging conventional approaches and adopting a holistic mindset. The designer has the necessary tools and the right mindset for creating innovative and holistic solutions". Exhibition is not only informative in nature, but also functional, which is the case of most Danish installations. The Design Centre uses its space to guide design-driven innovation (the DIN model) and puts it to the test. It is targeted at  private organisations, as well as public sectors, that can potentially guide presented innovation projects to its destination. The space is also a living laboratory, where many seminars and workshops are held to promote design-driven innovations.

Walking through the streets of Copenhagen

There is no other town like Copenhagen: it is a capital, yet rather small (population is 500,000) with unique, scandinavian architecture, tiny brick streets and harbours. It would not feel like a capital even on the busiest day during rush hour, with many bikes cycling by, cars driving quietly, and people walking around. It is the feeling of peace that I find most attractive, the pace of life that people seem to share here. But you should not think that it lacks that noise and fun that we all find so important for city survival - what makes it into a vibrant town is a wide variety of cultural events, from art exhibitions to famous jazz festivals, attracting more and more international guests from all around the world.

The way I like to explore cities, is simply by wandering around streets, getting lost at times, watch people pass by, see life around me as to understand and see deeper into Danish life and culture. It is impossible not to notice bicycles with little trolleys attached in from of them, with a kid, or a couple of them, proudly looking out of them. For a Londoner this might seem shocking at first, but the next day it seems absolutely normal. Cycling culture is very well developed in Copenhagen, where many use bikes as main type of transport. In 2010, 35% of all trips to work or school in Copenhagen were made by bike; for Copenhagen residents, the figure is 50%. 

In Copenhagen, contemporary constructions blend in beautifully with historical buildings and palaces. The cityscape in the centre is dominated by 4-6 storey low-rises rather than the typical glass and steel high-rises found in other capitals.Along the waterfronts and in the district of Ørestad, you will find the results of modern urban planning, such as Mountain Dwellings (VM Bjerget) where the roof of one flat is the garden of another flat.

Hense we see that Copenhagen is a small city where you find a combination of both worlds: it can be looked at as big city with its rich and ever-growing cultural life, and as a small town with its little streets and compact architecture. In my future posts I will cover some of exhibitions and walks in more detail and present you with my personal impressions. Upon them you can construct your own opinion of this beautiful city.