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IKEA but No ABBA? Sweden Publishes Polemical Cultural Heritage List
The cultural canon features 100 items highlighting Swedish identity but excludes ABBA due to a 50-year age rule, sparking debate over cultural inclusion, officials said.
- On Tuesday, historian Lars Trägårdh handed over the cultural canon to Culture Minister Parisa Liljestrand in Uppsala, presenting 100 items including Pippi Longstocking, IKEA and the Nobel Prize.
- Launched in 2023, the government-backed project cost eight million kronor, more than $1.1 million Cdn, and was part of the right-wing ruling coalition's manifesto supported by the Sweden Democrats.
- The committee's eligibility cutoff excludes recent cultural contributions, making ABBA ineligible despite their 1972 formation and 1974 Eurovision win under the 50-year eligibility rule.
- Several cultural institutions and minority groups, including the Swedish Academy and representatives of the Indigenous Sámi population, criticised the initiative as too narrow and exclusionist, while Parisa Liljestrand, Culture Minister, and Ulf Kristersson, Prime Minister, defended its educational value at a Tuesday press conference.
- The eligibility timeline has prompted debate over who counts as Swedish culture, with roughly one in five Swedes born abroad—most arriving after 1975—excluded and critics noting the omission of Sweden's Muslim population.
13 Articles
13 Articles
The Swedish government has published a canon with a hundred works, brands and traditions to represent the country's culture. There is also a lot of criticism about the project, not only because Abba is missing.
Sweden has published a canon of 100 items that constitute cultural heritage. The list includes items like Pippi Longstocking, the Nobel Prize, and Ikea. The pop group ABBA, as well as some well-known cultural products like kebab pizza, were excluded. According to the authors, this is because items must be over 50 years old, while critics argue that the list is "nationalistic" and "extremely exclusionary."
The proposal for Sweden's cultural canon contains 100 works and phenomena. Do you know Pippi Longstocking, the Lapp Codicil and Jazz in Swedish? Test yourself with 20 questions taken from the ten different categories.
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