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KEY POINTS: What do we know about the plans for a future Swedish cultural canon?

The government has promised to set up a committee to develop a proposal for a Swedish "cultural canon". Foreigners may end up having to know about the works included for a future citizenship test. Here's what we know so far.

KEY POINTS: What do we know about the plans for a future Swedish cultural canon?
Books for sale and the Akademibokhandeln bookshop in Stockholm's Gallerian shopping mall. Photo: Amir Nabizadeh/TT

What do we know about the government’s plans? 

For the government, this is a political project. 

“Culture and our common history are the ground of our collective identity,” prime minister Ulf Kristersson said in his speech outlining the government’s plans. “It creates a sense of community and increases our understanding of one another.” 

He said that “a committee of independent experts” would be appointed to develop a proposal. 

In the Tidö agreement between the three governing parties and the far-right Sweden Democrats, it adds that the experts would have “artistic competence in their respective fields”, and would develop a canon that included “different cultural forms”.

The agreement also calls for experts with “literary as a well as pedagogical competence” to develop reading lists with Swedish and international literary works”. 

Denmark’s cultural canon, which was presented in 2006, includes 108 works. divided into eight categories: architecture, visual arts, design and crafts, film, literature, and music. 

Culture Minister Parisa Liljestrand told SVT in an interview last month that she hoped that exposing everyone to a common cultural canon could “bring together a divided country” and would also help teachers know what works to expose their students to.

Will it be part of a future citizenship test? 

Culture Minister Parisa Liljestrand told SVT in an interview last month that this was not something she was ruling out.  “That’s something I think a government inquiry should look at and experts should think about,” she said. 

But in the run-up to the 2018 election, the Sweden Democrats then culture spokesperson Aron Emilsson told SVT that he felt there could be a test on the cultural canon, or that it could feed into the citizenship test. 

In Denmark, the cultural canon feeds into the (badly out of date) learning material given out in advance for those taking the Danish citizenship test. 

This means that the cultural canon is part of the citizenship test, but those taking the test can concentrate on learning facts about the 108 works which form part of the official citizenship-test learning material.

The Danish citizenship test does, however, include questions on current affairs and other issues which are not part of the official learning material. 

What does Sweden’s artistic world say about the plans? 

Almost everyone hates them.

A group of 35 leading Swedish authors, including leading literary and bestselling authors such as Viveka Sten and Camilla Läckberg, wrote an article in the Expressen newspaper condemning the plans. 

“To control literature is to control people’s thoughts and lives, and that does not belong in a democratic society,” they wrote. 

A cultural canon, they continued, would mean “excising the unwanted”, and would be a “repressive instrument”. 

Anna Troberg, head of DIK, the union for creative people and authors, wrote this week in Svenska Dagbladet that the proposal “ignored the expert competence of the entire cultural sector” and was “fundamentally a nationalist education project”. 

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EUROVISION

Which nationalities have bought the most tickets for Eurovision in Malmö?

Two thirds of all Eurovision tickets have been snapped up by foreign visitors, with new figures revealing the top ten countries which will have the most fans in the audience in Malmö.

Which nationalities have bought the most tickets for Eurovision in Malmö?

People from more than 80 countries will be in the audience of Malmö Arena for Eurovision Song Contest 2024, organisers have revealed.

Sweden-based fans top the list, with one-third of tickets sold to domestic customers.

But following not too far behind are Brits, with almost a fifth of all tickets snapped up by fans in last year’s host country. And more than one in ten buyers come from non-European countries.

“Malmö welcoming Eurovision fans and visitors from such large and diverse parts of the world is truly fantastic. It clearly demonstrates the event’s appeal and its ability to unite people through music, culture, and diversity,” Karin Karlsson, appointed by Malmö as managing director of the city’s role in hosting this year’s Eurovision, said in a statement.

The top ten countries, based on total ticket sales up until March, are:

1. Sweden

2. UK

3. Denmark

4. Germany

5. USA

6. Netherlands

7. Australia

8. Spain

9. Ireland

10. Poland

Long-distance fans from countries such as Mexico, Brazil and New Zealand are also expected to descend on the city, which is home to 186 nationalities.

“We see Malmö as a place where people, cultural expressions, and traditions come together and get to know each other. This is what our event should also reflect,” said Karlsson.

Eurovision will take place on May 7th-11th, with nine live shows including dress rehearsals for the semi-finals and final.

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